Heroes of Twilight
by DarkMoon2017
Summary: There are three pieces of the Triforce. However, the Triforce of Courage is split into two halves: One going to the Chosen Hero, Link. The other going to the Chosen Heroine, Scarlett. These two heroes will soon team up with each other to fight the evils of the Twilight Realm. Through their journey, they will go through great trials, but none greater than Love itself. Link x OC
1. Chapter 1: Entering the Twilight

**Hey guys! If you haven't read any of my stories, I'm Darkmoon2017 but I guess you could just look at the author label...Oh well. This is my first Legend of Zelda story and it will probably be long. it's also going to follow Twilight Princess pretty closely and I'll probably add onto it or something. I always make author notes at the beginning of my stories just to let you know what's going so just like skim over them unless some of the words are in bold, which means it's possibly important haha. Please review or comment on the story and this first chapter! I really hope it becomes popular! I usually update a chapter every week or two so you won't have to wait a long time for a new chapter. We'll see what happens, I always write whatever I think of on the spot. Okay, I'm going to shut up now! Thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

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Ch. 1: Entering the Twilight

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

"Scarlett, do you have everything with you to go into Castle Town!?"

I jumped in place at the sound of my mom's voice. She was so loud. Couldn't she see I was getting ready to go at the moment? I looked into the mirror and brushed my long blonde hair. It was a bright golden color that matched the sun's rays of light every time I went outside. I laid the brush down on the tiny table in front of me, staring at my bright green eyes. My mom always said that my eyes were her favorite thing about me...

"Hold on Mom! I have to make sure everything is in its right place!" I yelled back to her. I was kind of a perfectionist when it came to how I looked when going out somewhere. Sure, I was only going out to get some food for supper but you can never rule out the possibility of someone recognizing you! And if that happens and you just happen to look like crap, well...I guess your life sucks then.

"What does that even mean!?"

"I don't know mom! I'll be out in a minute! Gah!"

I glanced at myself in the mirror one last time before turning to the door and walking out of the bathroom. My mother was standing there with her hands on her hips. She sometimes got impatient when waiting for me. After seventeen years of being alive, she should be used to it by now. I walked over to her and she gave me a roll of her eyes as she handed me a small basket.

"Alright so I'm planning on making some pumpkin stew for dinner but with a twist! I had a dream last night that the soup would be a lot better if I added potatoes, deku nuts, and just a pinch of horse plant powder. I know it sounds weird but trust me it tasted really good in the dream," My mom informed me with an excited look on her face. I rolled my eyes at her with a giggle. She was so weird, but that's why I loved her.

"Alright I'll get everything at the supermarket," I said as I walked to the front door.

"Thank you sweetie. Your father should be home from his post in an hour or two. Princess Zelda extended every soldier's guarding session since a representative from every village in Hyrule is visiting for the special festival tomorrow. If you ask me, I think the Princess should focus more on how to stop my hair from turning grey with one of her magic spells! I mean look at this! Does this look grey or white to you!?" My mom asked in desperation as she turned around and let her hair down. It was the same bright red it had always been. I always found it odd that my parents were red-heads while I had blonde hair. They always told me I was born with their hair and that's why they named me "Scarlett" but it quickly changed to the bright blonde color it is today. I don't know if they are lying or not but I don't know anything about hair color and genetics...

"Mom, it looks red. That's all I see. I have to go now before it gets too crowded."

Walking out the door, I looked around to see a few people moving here and there. It was an hour until three o'clock so I had some time before the market became crowded with people. I made my way through the wide alleyway and into the giant town square. In the middle of the square, there was a large beautiful fountain overflowing with freshwater from Lake Hylia. The guards even let you scoop some of it into pitchers if you wanted to. All around the square were tiny shops with all sorts of things in them, though, I tended to go into only one or two of them a week. North of the fountain was the Grand Hyrule Castle, housing Princess Zelda and her aids. I've never met the princess before but I heard she was pretty smart and polite. Finally, west of the square and the direction I was going, the supermarket was placed at the west entrance of Castle Town. There was another supermarket district in the southern region of Castle Town, but good luck ever affording anything from over there. The only people who shopped there were tourists and people who were richer than all of us combined. I walked over to the west gate until I saw the familiar stalls of food and unique potions. They had tons of goodies but I just got the stuff mom asked me to get.

"Ah, Scarlett my dear! How are you doing today!?" Asked one of the ladies that knew me. I smiled and nodded my head.

"I'm doing good. How about you?"

"Just fine! Sales have been steadily growing ever since the news of that festival came about throughout the town. I hear someone from the Zora's Domain might even be coming. Wouldn't that be exciting!? I've never seen one before and I really need to thank them for all of the drinking water they provide for us. Oh look at me blabbering on and on! You probably have to get going. I'll see you later! Oh! And say 'hello' to your mother for me!" Yelled the female merchant. I told her I would and went on my way. I fiddled with the stuff in my basket for a second before noticing the birth mark on my right hand. I can't really explain it that well. It was like three smaller triangles that came together to make one big triangle, leaving a triangular-shaped space in the middle. Did I mention triangles!? I scrubbed my other hand on it but it never went away.

"Why is this thing even here?" I asked myself in annoyance. My friends say its cool but I think it just looks weird. I guess I'm just paranoid about everything. Then again, what teenage girl isn't? I entered back into the giant town square where a number of guards were guarding and numerous kids were playing around the fountain. The whereabouts of their parents was always unknown; and they were too happy to be orphans...Oh man, I'm going to get my ass kicked by the goddesses for thinking that...

"What is that!?"

I fell out of my thinking trance to respond to someone who was yelling. It was an old lady pointing up at the sky in front of her. Her grey pupils were shaking as if she was frightened. The people around her had the same scared look as they continued her chain of panic. I narrowed my eyes and followed their gaze to see that Hyrule Castle was covered in a large blackish-yellow color. Black particles flew around it as if they were orbiting it. The substance looked harmless before the castle bursted into flames all of a sudden. The townspeople screamed in horror as thick black smoke rose from the fine Hylian castle. Some people were frozen in their place while others ran to make sure loved ones were okay. I gripped the basket in my hands and never looked away from the castle as I started to head home. The cause of the fire was being contemplated in my mind the whole way there. The thing that made it even worse was that the town was quiet as everyone was speechless by the strange aura and fire surrounding the castle. It was a good thing I was almost home...By the time I got to the end of my street, my mom was standing outside the front door of our home looking around with a panicked look on her face.

"Mom?" I asked as I started to walk towards her. She looked at me and sighed in relief.

"Scarlett! Thank Hylia, you're alright! I heard some screaming outside and then I saw that fire around the castle. I got-"

Her voice was interrupted as a large crystal-like sound filled everyone's ears. I turned back around to look at Hyrule castle and saw the black-yellow aura widen. Another ear-splitting sound hit my eardrums and I covered them in pain. In front me, a large sound wave of wind shot out from the castle in all directions. I watched as the wind came at me at lightning speed, its force so powerful it knocked people to their feet. When it reached me, I was knocked to the ground and I blacked out for a few seconds from the impact of the blast.

"Ugh..."

I opened my eyes slowly and tried to get up but ended up slipping on my face. Nice...I groaned and looked at my hand but I gasped when it wasn't my hand at all! It was the paw of a wolf! I screamed but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a howl. Oh no...I ran over to a nearby puddle and looked at my reflection to see a white wolf with dark trim all over it's body in a pattern-like way. I looked around and the only thing I saw was tiny balls of blue fire floating motionless above the ground. What the hell just happened!? Where did everyone go!? I tried to sniff but just ended up sneezing for some reason. When I recovered from my sneezing, I opened my eyes to see everyone in their regular human form, just transparent-blue in color. My mother was still in front of me with widened eyes.

"What just happened!? Scarlett!? Scarlett, where are you!?" She screamed.

Could she not see me? Yeah I was a huge wolf apparently, but she should still at least be able to react to seeing one in front of her. Instead, she kept looking around while tears came to her eyes. She ran to the end of the street and looked around before doing the same at the other end.

"Scarlett, baby!? Where did you go!?"

I tried barking at her but she still never looked at me. How was it that I could see her but she couldn't see me? None of the other people seemed to see me either. After a few seconds, they all disappeared and those tiny blue balls of fire appeared again. The last time I made them appear I tried sniffing and then sneezed. Rubbing my wet canine nose with my paw, I tried sniffing again and the people around me turned into their human form once more. Okay so, if I wanted to see them I would have to sniff the area around me. I guess these were the senses of a dog.

God, listen to me! I sound ridiculous! This had to be a freaking dream! Why didn't I just turn into one of "those things" and not a wolf!? I was probably just asleep...Yeah...At least I better be because this was starting to turn into a nightmare...

"Hurry up men! We have to get to the castle for reinforcements! The Princess needs us!" Yelled the leader of a group of soldiers who ran past me. Maybe I could follow them and see what was going on. My mom would still be here if I managed to turn back into a human again. I tried running with them but running as a dog wasn't as easy as you would think; especially if you've only walked on two legs for the majority of your life! It would take some getting used to but I eventually got the hang of just regular walking. I could work on jogging and running later if this really wasn't a dream after all. As I "tried" to keep up with the running guards, I noticed the air around me was now filled with the same thick yellow and black color that covered the castle a few minutes ago. It felt...lifeless, I would say.

 _"Young Heroine."_

I stopped walking and looked around. The soldiers had been running near the southern entrance when I suddenly heard someone talking to me. I turned my snout towards the large stone platform that connected Hyrule field and Castle Town to see a shiny golden wolf staring at me. I lifted my paw and tried to point it towards myself as if to ask, "are you talking to me". He nodded his head and I walked over to him. He was about the same size as me but one of his eyes was red while the other was just solid black. I think I was just surprised that he could see me.

 _"Young Heroine, the time has come,"_ He told me. I assumed that the only reason we could talk to each other was because we were both wolves. I tilted my head in confusion, one of my ears being lopsided. I must have looked adorable...

"Time has come? What do you mean? And if you don't mind me asking, WHAT IS GOING ON!? I JUST SUDDENLY TURNED INTO A WOLF AFTER SOME SHOCK WAVE SENT EVERYONE FLYING TO THE GROUND! NOW MY MOM'S WORRIED ABOUT ME BECAUSE, FOR SOME REASON, SHE CAN'T SEE ME! BUT I CAN SEE HER! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!? AND THE CASTLE IS ON FIRE! FIRE, DAMN IT! THAT'S REALLY BAD!"

The golden wolf waited for me to calm down before standing up from his sitting position. He whipped his tail around in the opposite direction and nodded his head for me to follow him.

 _"There is another one like you as well, but it is not my place to explain everything to you at once. I know you are...puzzled but...There is another one in your position. I will take you to him,"_ He said repeatedly as he started to run down the carefully-placed steps of the balcony. He didn't even give me time to freak out some more! I started after him but just tripped down the stairs instead, like an idiot. He stopped and looked at me with no expression on his wolf-like face. I huffed in irritation and he pawed his way over to me. He nudged my side with his nose and helped me up.

 _"Use this method when running, young Heroine,"_ He instructed as he moved his legs slowly in a synchronized form. I mimicked his movements slowly and carefully as my tongue hanged outside of my mouth, panting. I'm a wolf now so who cares!?

"Like this? And why do you keep calling me 'Heroine'?"

 _"Yes, and it is not my place to explain everything to you at once,"_ He said again.

"Why not?" I growled. He snorted and started running wherever we were supposed to be going. He totally ignored me and changed the subject! Whatever, I did what he said when running and it actually helped a lot! We ran across the field south of Hyrule and I just had to stop to look at some beautiful flowers with butterflies on them. I had never been outside of Castle Town so this was all new to me. The golden wolf looked at me and laid down in the soft grass, waiting for me.

 _'You act just like her...'_ He thought to himself happily as I stopped smelling a flower's strong hypnotizing scent. I turned to him and quietly apologized for stopping. I was still getting used to my strong senses. He stood up on all fours and shook his head. Without a word, he turned and started running again. I followed him over a large bridge and then through a valley with large rocks on both sides of the dirt road. I had absolutely no idea where we were going. This was all so bizarre that I just went along with it. After all the stuff that has happened today, you would do the same thing.

 _"We are close,"_ He barked as he stopped running and slowed down to a slow walk. He had led us to a pretty forest with a variety of insects in it. I had never seen so much green before. Green was my favorite color so I kept finding myself having to stop to look at something unique or cool. Thankfully, the golden wolf in front of me didn't mind. There were some birds watching us from above and I looked up after hearing them chirp at me. The birds...didn't look right. They were solid black with red glowing patterns over their bodies. Their eyes were solid red and their chirps weren't that of a normal bird. The golden wolf stopped and sat down on his hind legs.

 _"Stay close to me through this final stretch, young Heroine. The area is dangerous,"_ He told me cautiously.

"Dangerous? How could a forest like this be dangerous?"

He didn't answer my question, of course. I feel like he's a silent-type...We moved much slower in this part of the woods for some reason. The way the golden wolf was acting didn't exactly make me feel any better about this.

 _Da-da-da..._

I stopped close behind the golden wolf and listened for that sound I just heard. I really needed to call him something other than "golden wolf" by the way. I wonder if he has a name...

 _Da-da-da..._

There it was again!

"What is-"

I was interrupted by a strange eerie screech coming from the shaded area in front of us where the most trees were blocking the sunlight. There was a dark figure standing there and it looked like it was hunched over. I could only judge it by its shadow but there looked to be small snake-like tentacles jutting out from its face. The dark creature emerged itself from the darkness and I wanted to look away. It was so ugly! Its face was flat and it had the same red markings the birds I saw earlier had. Its build was like that of a person but animalistic somehow. Those snake-like tentacles I were talking about were not only coming out of the front of the beast's face, but it also made up the creature's hair. The golden wolf growled and ran up to it, sinking its teeth into the creature's neck after jumping on it, and then ripping it out viciously. Gooey red blood spewed out of its body before it suddenly blew up into tiny black particles. The wolf scratched at his ear for a second before looking at me.

 _"It is safe now. I believe that that was our last obstacle."_ He said in relief. I couldn't say anything because I was too shocked by what just happened. Did...he just kill that thing!? I shook my head and continued to follow him. I could get myself killed if I kept questioning everything. We both reached a deeper part of the forest and it seemed like it was much brighter here. The sun was actually shining through the trees onto the ground in rays. I was going to ask the wolf why there was such a difference between here and the entrance of the forest but he suddenly stopped and sat down again.

 _"This is as far as I go. This destination is known as Faron Woods. Young Heroine, follow the forest path until you see a spring. When you see the spring, enter it and you will discover your journey from there on. Farewell for now."_

"No wait!" I yelled as I ran to him. His shiny blonde coat turned bright before he disappeared. So basically I ran through him and tumbled across the grass in surprise. This is turning out to be a pretty crappy day isn't it? I shook all the grass from my fur and did what he told me to do. I was suppose to look for a spring up here somewhere...Oh! There it is! I turned to my right through a small wooden gate that was already opened to enter the spring. My paws sank under the shallow end of the water and I felt immediately refreshed by the coolness of it. There was a long low-to-the-ground waterfall around the spring that all made the water go into a deep-end area where you could go swimming or take a bath. All this water was making me thirsty...I shrugged my shoulders and lapped at the spring water for a moment.

"Damn, it took you long enough to get all those tears of light Wolfie," Said a female voice in front of me. I looked up from the water I was drinking and my eyes saw another wolf. It was dark with white trimming and patterns on it. It was like me, just the colors were reversed. The wolf had big blue eyes that were definitely noticeable and his main feature. Hopefully he's a nice wolf like the golden one. But...he was a guy wolf...Surely that girly voice didn't come from him...

"Oh! Another wolf! That means I can ride both of you!"

A small turquoise-skinned creature with body markings on her arms, legs, and body appeared in mid-air in front of me. Her hair was a bright orange that almost matched her ruby-red eyes. She wore no clothes except for a large piece of what looked like a mask or helmet on her head. The head piece covered one of her eyes as she looked at me in a humorous way. She twirled around in the air and grinned at me, her teeth looking somewhat sharp.

"And what is your name? Are you the other hero the Princess was talking about?" She asked me with the same mischievous smirk. I couldn't think of anything to say so I just stared at her stupidly. The wolf she was with looked at me with hope in his eyes and I realized that he probably went through the same thing I did today. The only difference being that his guide was this tiny female creature while mine was the golden wolf. One part of me felt relieved that another person felt the same as me right now, while the other part of me was still questioning how this crap-fest even started. Oh that's right, we were both wolves so I could communicate with him. I was going to talk but I stopped myself when a bright light almost blinded me.

 ** _"The Vessel of Light is full of tears, and light has returned to this area."_**

A monotone voice spoke. A packet of bright orbs rose from the wolf in front of me and circled itself around the spring. The area turned even brighter as if a great evil had been lifted. It really did feel more...peaceful now. The little sneaky creature that was talking to me just now looked at both of us and shrugged her shoulders in disappointment.

"Aww man...And here I was, having fun in the Twilight. The light sucks! Oh well, I'll see you too later! Eee hee hee!"

And with that, she danced around the spring and disappeared. That's it, I've officially gone crazy. Yep! No wait, I sense something else about to appear. Let's see how crazy I am now, shall we!? I watched a large ball of light rise from the upper-half of the spring. It made the whole area glow with bright shining colors before the ball was covered in a large monkey-like light spirit. I looked at the other wolf for his reaction and he gave me a look that said, "I've been dealing with this shit all day, I'm honestly not surprised". If I had been in my human-form, I would've laughed.

 _ **"I am Faron. These are my woods. I am one of the spirits of light that protect this land; however, I protect this forest. I was destined by the Gods to carry out my duty to maintain the light. I see the young Heroine has appeared as well. I have no doubt that the both of you helped restore me to my former glory."**_

Umm...Actually I didn't do anything...

 _ **"O brave youths...In the land covered in twilight where people roam as spirits, you were transformed into blue and green-eyed beasts. That fact was a sign of your destined powers; the powers of the chosen one. Those powers that rest within you have now awakened. Look at your awakened form..."**_ He told us. Huh? Look at our awakened forms? I don't see any-...Holy Goddess, I'm a human again! But whoa, I'm not wearing the same clothes I was wearing earlier. The outfit I had on now consisted of the colors: green, brown, and white. Most of it was green while the trimming was white and brown. My shoulders were covered but the sleeves ended at the bottom of my shoulders. That's okay, I never liked long-sleeved shirts anyway. My neck and breasts were covered in a beautiful white with brown on a portion of it. However, it did leave some of the skin on my chest exposed; not to where someone would get the wrong idea though. My stomach and abdomen region was tightened in a corset-like clothed armor that covered what looked to be chainmail. You could not see most of the chainmail but I knew it was there. The whole outfit ended in a cute green skirt that reached down to my upper thighs. It would just barely fail the fingertip test. As for shoes, I had on black-laced brown boots that rode all the way up to the bottom of my knees. White fabric underneath the boots reached to the bottom part of my thighs so that only a small portion of my thighs were bare; I'd say maybe three or four inches. And lastly, my hands were covered in brown matching gloves that looked like they could grip anything without becoming slippery. Whoops! I forgot about my hair! Somehow...I don't want to know how...The forest sprit managed to change me into this outfit and tie my long blonde hair up into a beautiful ponytail with my pretty side-swept bangs. Where my hair was tied, a gorgeous pin was placed in it. I looked at it in the spring water's reflection of me and I was surprised to find that it looked exactly like the triangular birthmark on my right hand. The only thing different about it was that it had the added addition of what looked like golden wings around the triangle. I would say it resembled maybe an ancient bird. Hmm, maybe I'll be able to find out why I have that symbol on me after all. And can I just say whoever put this outfit together has REALLY good taste! I look great! I had both clothing and armor on me, and even the armor looked like the usual stitched clothing.

Looking over at - what was supposed to be a wolf - I instead saw a guy my age. He had dirty blonde hair and the same blue eyes he had in his wolf form. He had the same colors as me in his outfit. It was mainly a green-looking tunic with white and chainmail under it. He wore brownish-pants and brown boots that almost went up to his knee as well. Dark gauntlets were fitted on his arms along with brown fingerless gloves. A long green hat rested on his head, giving his styled bangs the spotlight. Seriously, how did he get his bangs to-...You know what, never mind. The last things I noticed were that he had a sword and shield attached to his back so that he could easily get them if he needed too. A brown belt was wrapped around his waist while tiny belts intersected across his front. He also had a small blue earing on his ear. It was mostly hidden behind his hair so it wasn't that noticeable. His skin was slightly tan like mine and his ears, of course, were long like every Hylian in Hyrule. He seemed as surprised as I was to be back in his human form.

 _ **"The green tunic that is your garb once belonged to the ancient hero chosen by the gods..."**_

I'm not wearing a tunic so...

 _ **"...As well as the dress that suited the ancient Heroine..."**_

Alright, fair enough.

 _ **"Their power is yours now. The power of the chosen heroes has finally awakened from it's sleep. Your name is Link and Scarlett...You are the Hero and Heroine chosen by the gods,"**_ He told us. My eyes went wide as well as Link's when I looked at him. He looked at me with the same expression before turning back to listen to any more sudden announcements from this light spirit.

 _ **"Brave Link and Scarlett...A dark power rests deep in the temple deep within these woods. That dark power is a forbidden one. A long time ago, I and the other spirits locked it away. Because of its nature, it should not be touched by any who dwell in the light. However, this world weeps beneath a mantle of shadows and so there is no choice. You both must match the king of shadows and darkness. If you would seek this forbidden power, then the both of you proceed to the temple in the forest depths,"**_ The spirit said before spinning around the clutched ball of light and disappearing into its spring. Link looked at the ground before turning to look at me.

"Well I'm glad I won't have to walk on all fours anymore."

I laughed and nodded my head.

"Me too, hehe! Umm...I'm Scarlett by the way...But you probably already knew that since Faron kind of explained everything..." I said shyly to the teenage boy. I was always shy when meeting new people. He smiled and nodded his head.

"It's cool...and my name's Link..."

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 **And that is the end of the chapter! Okay, I had to revise this for about two hours today because it just wasn't right the first time. It had no explanation for anything lol. Like I said, this will follow almost exactly what happens in the game with added stuff. And it's not like it's going to be an exact copy because that would be copyright! So for the story, it is rated "T" for now. However, it might turn into a "M" rating if I feel like it should. If you guys don't want that then just tell me in a review or private message. But, this turned out way better than I thought it would! I hope you guys liked it! I'm juggling two other stories right now so I might be slow with the updates for now but don't worry! It's usually two weeks max! And I also hope you guys like my OC Scarlett. I basically use her for almost all of my stories, I just usually change her name. But I like that name so I chose to use it here as well. Please review and comment on the story and tell me what you think! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	2. Chapter 2: Adapting

**Hey guys! I told you I update faster than a lot of other authors do! Well, in their defense sometimes they make longer chapters than I do but I've written a 10,000 word chapter in a day before. I just can't do that now because I'll be exhausted and I have school. But...Summer is coming up so maybe that can happen sometime. I just posted the first chapter and it already has 21 views so that's a good sign even though that's a low number. I don't expect it to get big until later. Alright I'm not going to introduce the forest temple quite yet. And the temple will probably all be included in one chapter. But you guys don't care about that. I'm going to try to get this finished this week because I have to study for my AP Exams which really sucks. FOR THE STORY, A REVIEWER HAS ASKED FOR THE RATING TO BE CHANGED. SO THERE WILL BE A POLL ON MY PROFILE NOT GIVE YOU THAT DECISION. GUESTS CAN VOTE IN THE REVIEW SECTION SO PLEASE VOTE! I'LL GIVE YOU UNTIL AFTER THE NEXT CHAPTER TO MAKE A DECISION! Anyway, please review, favorite, follow, whatever the story! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

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Ch. 2: Adapting

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Link, huh? That was a pretty unique name; at least it was if you were from Castle Town. I have no idea what kind of culture the people outside the castle have. This, I guess, was the best way to discover new things it seems. I looked at Link as he tightened the gloves on his hands and tapped his boots on the ground. He smiled and glanced at me.

"Our boots keep all the water out of them," He said as if it was his birthday. He was genuinely happy about that specific fact. I mean, yeah, I hate it when my shoes get soggy and then they make that squishy sound when you walk and...You get my point. It's gross. But, I hadn't even noticed it until he said something. I smiled at him and nodded.

"Yep...Umm…"

He stared at me, waiting for a response. I laughed nervously after no words came out of my mouth for a few seconds.

"Hehe...I'm a...kind of speechless about all this right now…"

"That's okay. I am too. It's just...I was doing my normal routine when all of this happened...See, I live in Ordon Village not far from here."

He pointed to the right of the pathway near the entrance to show me where the village was.

"That's good that at least one of us knows where we are. I'm actually from Castle Town," I told him. His blue eyes widened in surprise for a second before he looked in the direction of my home. I can't pinpoint exactly what I saw, but the look in his eyes told me he knew something about Castle Town; not in an informative way, more like a personal one. He tore his eyes away from where he was looking and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"So anyway...I guess we'll be teammates for now on?" He asked.

"Well hold on, I don't even know what's going on. Like, one minute I'm getting food for dinner and the next I'm a wolf heading over to this spring. I know what the spirit said but I can't just drop everything and save Hyrule from only the Gods know what! I can't even...I'm not that kind of person and I've never even held a weapon before! All of this doesn't make any sense! Do you know anything Link?"

I should probably apologize to him later for losing my cool right now. Can you blame me though? This was all so sudden. Link gave me a sympathetic look and stepped over to me. He gently grabbed my right hand and turned it over to show my triangular birthmark shining through my glove. He showed me his left hand and I saw that he had the same symbol.

"All I know is, we both have this symbol on our hands and it has to mean something right? And don't get me wrong, I feel the exact same way as you do. Two or three hours ago I was helping my friend roundup goats at the local ranch. And then I came here to retrieve my horse from one of my best friends and then…"

He stopped and looked away, his mouth turning into a frown.

"...These...monsters showed up and kidnapped her and some of the children from my village. I couldn't even do anything because one of them hit me over the head and I blacked out. When I came to, I tried to run after them. I had to stop when I reached this dark barrier that covered the whole exit of the forest, and before I knew it, a large hand grabbed me and pulled me in. That's when I turned into a wolf and met...her…"

He nodded his head towards his shadow and the same female creature from before made herself known.

" _Yep! He met me, and he and I both knew it was love at first sight~"_ She said with a grin on her shadow-like face. Link rolled his eyes and sighed. She was definitely lying. No love was coming out of either of them. The creature smirked at him and pinched his cheek before staring at me again.

" _I'm Midna, by the way! I can't wait to piss you off too! That's my specialty!"_

"Ain't that the truth…" Link mumbled under his breath. Midna laughed proudly while I listened to her with an annoyed countenance.

" _He loves me so much! Eee hee hee! You're the chosen Heroine so you're just going to have to deal with it just like old Linkie here will. I also need you two. But I'm not going to tell you why just yet...Why don't you work on getting yourself a sword and shield. You can't go into enemy territory without a weapon. You'll get yourself killed blondie~"_

She disappeared back into Link's shadow and we were left alone again. He shook his head and turned to the exit of the spring.

"I'm sorry about that. I, unfortunately, got stuck with her when I was wolf. Now she needs us to get some things for her. She said it would help save Hyrule from the Twilight but who knows. She sounds like an expert in the dishonesty department. Anyway, let's go to the village to find you a weapon and a shield; and maybe on the way, you can tell me more about yourself. We are going to be partners after all," He said with a welcoming grin. I felt myself smile at his kindness as I followed him. I almost forgot about my concern about all of this. What's the point in complaining though? I'll just sound like a whiny you-know-what if I do. The way I see it, if I go on this journey I should be able to find some answers on why this is happening.

The both of us exited the spring and walked to the right pathway to head for Link's village. He walked beside me instead of in front of or behind me.

"So first off is...How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen right now but I turn eighteen in a couple of weeks," I replied. He smiled with common glee.

"Awesome! I'm eighteen right now. I just turned it so we're basically the same age! Alright, umm...How about I ask you what your favorite color is?"

Oh crap, this was going to turn into 20 questions. You could also tell that he was trying really hard to paint himself as a friend. You can't deny his effort!

"My favorite color is green ironically. I can safely say that we both look good in green," I told him with a beaming smile as we walked through the short grass of the forest. I saw some smoke in the distance so I had a feeling we were getting close to Link's village. I barely heard his third question after he thanked me for my previous answer of praise.

"What do you like to do?"

I thought for a second before answering him.

"Hmm...I like to run…"

He raised his eyebrows at me and I giggled.

"It's true! I, being the paranoid girl that I am, have always thought I didn't look fit and I never stopped thinking about it if I was at school or with friends while eating something. So there's a track in Castle Town and I go there every single day to run at least two miles. It makes me feel more confident about myself. So on our journey, don't be surprised if you see me running around like an idiot early in the morning," I laughed. Link smiled but shook his head, "Don't say that about yourself Scarlett, you look fine to me."

I rolled my eyes at him but was glad he complimented me. Link seemed like a pretty nice guy. I had only met him like ten minutes ago but if this whole thing is true I might as well try to get along with him. It's a good thing it's easy to get along with him though. Can you imagine someone like...Oh I don't know...that one cousin that's a jerk to everyone? No. Just, no.

I noticed Link was about to ask me another question but I stopped him.

"Whoa! Whoa! I get to ask you some questions too Link! Like, what do _you_ like to do?"

"Haha, well I do like to run as well but not two miles a day! That's way too much! To tell the truth, there's not much to do in the village so I'm either sleeping, eating, or helping around the Ranch. I would say sleeping is my favorite out of the three of them though. I prefer to sleep outside on the grass. I don't know why. I think it's because of the light breeze during the night. Sorry, you probably don't care about any of this. Oh, we're here!"

Link's face brightened and he ran up to his house, readjusting the tilted sign in front of it. I wanted to tell him that I didn't mind hearing stuff about him but chose to stay quiet as I walked up to him. He leaned his head back and shielded his eyes from the sun to look at his house. I did the same and found his house to be...cute? Yeah, it was like a treehouse! He looked at me and chuckled.

"It's way bigger inside. I'll show you the inside later, but for now, we need to see if we can get you a sword and shield from the village. Hopefully, they'll have one…"

He turned and I followed him as we walked towards a downhill path. Around the corner, there was a small village with the basic buildings; mayor's house, people's houses, and the village store. Seems simple enough. Looking around, the sky was clear over the village and it was almost the perfect temperature; sixty-eight degrees. There was a little creek filled with greengill and Ordon catfish that went through the place and ended up in a lake. This all just looked like a country heaven! The only thing that wasn't right about this village was the people. They all looked depressed for some reason.

"Let's go to the store first and buy some potions. Did you bring any rupees just in case we need them later?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Link who was staring at me.

"U-Um, Y-Yeah I have some rupees right now but it's not much," I said to him with a shrug of the shoulders. He grinned and shrugged back at me.

"That's okay, believe it or not, rupees are hidden in the grass everywhere around here! That's how I get my money. I have a job too so I can get everything for us."

Free rupees in the grass!? I turned my head to the closest patch of grass and ran over to it. Link, who was about to open the door of the shop, stopped and looked at me before he started to snicker. I parted the long grass and there it was! A green rupee! Who put this here!? Wait a minute! Who cares!? I snatched the green shiny money and ran back to the shop, uttering a small apology when he opened the door for me. He told he was actually amused as we entered the shop. Inside, it was small of course. A large woman sat at the counter with a frown. When she saw us, she jumped up in her seat and gasped.

"Link! Oh, thank goodness! I thought you were kidnapped as well! I'm glad you're okay! They just...They just took the children! Those monsters kidnapped all of them and...and…" She stopped and pressed her hands against her cheeks like she was going to cry. Oh that's right, Link did say something about the children being kidnapped. Were they kidnapped by one of those black creatures I saw while I was in my wolf form? If so, it was hard to believe that those kids were still alive...I stepped back a little bit while Link comforted the woman gently and calmly. I could not hear them but I got the gist of it. The blonde patted the woman's shoulder and she finally smiled for the first time that day. She asked him what he needed and he nodded his head back at me.

"This is my friend, Scarlett. I was hoping you had something in the shop like a sword or shield or even another sling-shot. Do you?" He asked her.

"I'm afraid not. You bought my last slingshot the other day and I don't carry any weapons here. Why don't you go try talking to Rusl for something like that honey? He's a little beat up from trying to fight those deadly monsters earlier, but I think he's up and trying to walk it off. You know him."

Link nodded his head and thanked her before the both of us departed her tiny shop. Link sighed and rubbed the back of his neck like he was thinking of something. I tilted my head and asked him what was wrong. I was surprised when he actually told me. All of the guys in Castle Town are stubborn and too prideful for their own good AND they never tell me anything!

"Almost everyone in the village had a son or daughter. All of them were kidnapped by those green monsters while I was a wolf. Now, I have to face every one of their parents and tell them that I wasn't there to save them."

Did he really think this was all his fault.

"Link, it's not your-"

I grabbed his left hand with my right hand and I had to stop to look at them. Our birthmarks started to glow bright and I dropped his hand.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's a 'chosen hero' thing," He replied with a growing smile. Well I'm glad he was feeling better. I darted my eyes away from him and started towards who I thought was Rusl's house. Link gave me a weird look and narrowed his eyes.

"Scarlett, where are you going?"

I stopped and turned around.

"Where does it look like I'm going?"

"Back to my house," he said with a smirk. My eyes widened and I turned back around to see the same uphill path we went down to get to the village. Curse my idiotic sense of direction. When he saw me realize what I had done, he laughed out loud and motioned me to follow him. My cheeks burned red in embarrassment as I hesitantly followed him. He wasn't rubbing my mistake in my face on the way to Rusl's, but my face was still red afterwards.

"Rusl!"

Link yelled as he knocked on the door. Footsteps were heard from the inside before a pregnant woman opened the door. This was Rusl!?

"Link! Oh my...Oh...Come in! Please! Rusl is out looking for Colin and the others but he should be back soon."

Okay now I really feel like an idiot…

"That's okay. We don't plan on being here long, Uli. I need to ask you an important question. Does Rusl keep a spare sword and shield in the house anywhere. It's a long story, but basically my friend here needs the equipment and we both plan on finding Colin and the others. I'm sorry about all this, we're just in a hurry," Link told her briefly. She blinked and nodded, not questioning any of this. She moved slowly but surely as she made her way over to a bench and lifted the seat. She raised a large sword sheath and Link immediately helped her with it. He handed me the sword and I took it in both of my hands. I honestly thought it would be heavy but it was actually pretty light. My green eyes sparkled as they stared down at the designed sword. I couldn't believe I was experiencing excitement over this. I looked up from the sword and saw a wooden shield in front of my face. Link smiled as he gave it to me and I returned the gesture.

"He had made a replica of the Ordon Sword in case anything happened to it but there really isn't a reason to go see the princess now; especially with the kids missing. I see you have the original, Link. That's fine, just promise me you'll bring the children back. I just know they're alive. I'm Colin's mother so we have that connection. I would know if he were to...Well let's not think about that right now!" Uli said with a hint of concern evident in her tone of voice. She looked at me and gave me a warm smile, "It's nice to meet you too um…?"

"Scarlett, ma'am," I said politely.

"...Scarlett. Such a beautiful name. I'm glad Link has someone to accompany him on his journey. We could use all the help we can get. Do keep him out of trouble though. He likes to do whatever he wants once in a while and that usually gets him in trouble."

"No it doesn't!" Link yelled defiantly.

Uli and I looked at each before chortling. Link's face turn pink as he almost stomped to the door.

"Come on Scarlett, we have to go."

I sighed and nodded, giving Uli a grateful "thank you". Outside, the sun was still high in the sky as its light shined upon all of Ordon Village. There were barely any clouds, but that was okay since I didn't want to get any of this lovely heroic outfit wet. The cool wind was strong enough to make me brush my hair out of my eyes. Everything was just-

 _Meow!_

What the? Holy crap! A cat! It was white on the bottom and brown on the top! He was so cute! I picked him up and petted his tiny furry head. I swear Link has the most patience I've ever seen in a guy because he just smiled and started petting the cat as well instead of, you know, making us go save the children or having a temper-tantrum over it. Weren't we supposed to be hurrying?

" _Ahhh! Everybody just stop! Just stop! And shut the hell up! Link! You and Scarlett need to get your asses moving! We need to go get something I need from the Forest Temple, which is deep inside Faron Woods! Not pet some dumb cat! Hey, don't look at me that way you feline jerk!"_ Midna screamed at the animal after coming out of Link's shadow.

 _Meow!_

" _Excuse me!? What did you just say!?"_

 _Meow! Meow! Meow!_

The cat was seemingly cussing Midna out. She clenched her teeth tightly as she looked at the ground in vexation.

" _Put that cat down...before I strangle it!"_

I gasped, taking a step back while Link put his arm in front of me in a protective way.

"You certainly will not! Ugh! Let's just go Link!" I said. I put down the cat and it ran off into the creek to catch some fish. Freaking adorable! I'm going to miss him but I know we have to get going. Link and I walked in the direction of his house before he stopped abruptly.

"We almost forgot to buy some potions for our trip. Why we didn't buy any the first time we were here, I don't know. I'll be out in a second," Link said to me before going into the shop. I just decided to sit in the soft grass while I waited for him. These "chosen hero" thoughts have been circling around in my mind for the whole day and I just wanted to forget about them. It's funny really. Four hours ago, I had my old normal life and now I'm destined to go on a journey to restore the light to Hyrule. Anybody else think this is just some plot made up by some game designers? Nah...And then there was Link. Link seemed like a cool guy, and he's been very patient with me through all this so I think we'll be good friends. It really does help that he's basically the same age as me. That way, we both feel the same about this. He even admitted to me that he was confused about being "the hero" as well. He was just a country boy who worked at a ranch; I couldn't even imagine what I would be thinking if I lived in this tiny village instead of Castle Town where stuff like this tends to happen more often. Not on the magnitude of this, but random crap always occurred because it was the urban area.

" _Hey you!"_

"Huh?"

Midna was floating in front of me with that sly smirk of hers. When did she get there?

"Oh...Hey…" I said quietly. Her facial expression widened and she rotated around me like she was looking me up and down. My shyness started to creep back as my cheeks turned red and I stared at the ground. She giggled and crossed her tiny legs in front of me.

" _So your name is Scarlett...And you just happen to be the chosen Heroine. Well I know for sure that Link has fighting skills but do you? I mean, you're going to have to know something! You can't just go into a fight without any skill! That would be stupid! Then again, you are blonde…"_

My eyes narrowed at her in a semi-glare. I happen to be number one in my class thank you very much!

" _Get Wolfie to teach you what he knows. It'll help you when we enter the Forest Temple. That mark on your hand could help you as well but I won't tell you how hehe. Oh! I can't wait for you to turn back into a wolf so I can ride you too! I really hate just floating in the air like this. I'm lazy as hell, what are you going to do? Annnnnnndddddddd I should also tell you that you're going to have to forget about your old life. Thinking about it only makes it worse babe~"_

She then sank down to the ground and went back to Link's shadow through the door. I hope that was advice she was giving me. Crappy advice...and her comment about the triangular-shaped mark on my hand made me question what she actually meant...Wait, here comes Link. I stood up on both feet when he came out of the shop with a bag filled with potions. They contained bright red liquid that bubbled every couple of seconds. They had potions back at the Castle Town market, but I've never tried any of them. Judging by their color, the potions he had in the bag most likely healed your wounds and made them go away. Hopefully, I won't get hurt at all during this trip.

"Ready to go?" He asked, slinging the bag over his shoulder. I nodded and we left the village. In his front yard, he stopped and stretched his arms out over his head.

"Wanna train before we head over to the temple? I can also cook us something to eat if you're hungry."

"Yeah sure. Midna told me I needed to know some stuff about fighting before actually doing it, but I'm the Chosen Heroine so I can't die right?"

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye while setting up a straw-filled dummy for practice.

"I wouldn't use that strategy if I were you."

He said that to be serious but he cracked a smile anyway. I can honestly say that Link acts so innocent and friendly that I can't seem him using his sword to kill something. I know what you're thinking…"don't judge a book by its cover''...Yeah, well shut your mouth!

Link tied the last string on the straw-filled dummy and then looked at me. He stood up from his crouched position and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Alright, _**Battle Lessons With Link Part One: Stance"**_

He couldn't be serious right now.

"...Show me your stance when fighting Scarlett," He said. I'll go along with this for now I guess. I took out the sword from its sheath and screamed like a little girl when it came out too fast. I fell back on my ass while Link face-palmed. I stood up slowly and huffed.

"I got this," I told him reassuringly.

"Oooookkkkayyyyy…"

Was that sarcasm I detected from him? Ugh, I'm gonna prove him wrong right now! But isn't a stance just you standing in some form? How hard could that be? I gripped the sword in my gloved hand and put my left hand out intimidatingly. I parted my feet and crouched slightly. I think I saw a hint of a smile coming from Link but I'm not sure. He shook his head and walked towards me.

"It's a start, but it's better if you bounce on the balls of your feet. Like this…"

He grabbed his sword from his back and swung it to his side. He then got into his stance and started to bounce a little so that if a monster ever tried to attack him he could move out of the way and dodge that attack. He kept at it as he looked at me with an encouraging smile. I nodded my head and did the same.

"There you go! Just do that and you'll be set for defense at least. Now, _**Battle Lessons With Link Part Two: Sword Fighting"**_

"Okay, what do you want me to do?"

"Strap your sword sheath to your back and put your sword back into it. Then, slip your arm in the wooden shield. From there, I want you to unsheath your sword and then slash at the dummy like it's an enemy," He instructed. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. I did as he said and strapped the sword sheath to my back. For some reason, it just felt right sitting there on my back like that. I slipped my arm into the wooden Ordon Shield and moved it around to get used to it; also not as bad as I thought. Once I had gotten my equipment in check, I set my eyes on the dummy and did the stance Link showed me. I tightened my hand around the sword and swung it at the dummy's head. The strawed body shook and I swung again, this time at the abdomen. I have never done this before so I was really just winging it. The triangular birthmark on my hand started to glow when I jumped back and attacked the target once again. This time I felt myself yell out a battle cry before I slammed the sword on my "fake" enemy. The dummy was separated from its strings and it flew back into the tree behind it with dominating force. I was surprised but not as surprised as Link whose eyes were widened.

"Holy...Hylia...That was great Scarlett! No wonder the Gods chose you as their Heroine! That was awesome!"

He was WAY too excited about my performance haha. It did make me smile proudly though. I lowered my sword and jumped up in happiness.

"It was awesome, wasn't it!? Oh man, I thought I wouldn't be able to do this but I guess I can!"

"Hell yeah! Now let's eat and be on our way. I can teach you some other stuff later but now my stomach is growling and I'm a guy. There's a connection between a man and his food that a woman would never understand unfortunately," He said, acting like he was sad. Rolling my eyes, I sat down on the ground and leaned on my arms. I crossed my right boot over my left and enjoyed the sun for a minute. Link started to climb the wooden stairs up to his house, and I randomly remembered that he promised to show me the inside of his cute little treehouse! I stood up quickly and followed him up. He didn't seem to care. He opened the door for me and I nodded my thanks. The inside of his home was very...boyish. Yes, that's a good word to describe it. It wasn't dirty but it wasn't entirely clean either; not that I would criticize him for that. My room back at home is probably messier than Link's.

"Home sweet home!" He yelled. I laughed and walked around while he got whatever it was that we were going to eat together. His floors were made out of wood that creaked every time you took a step. It was pretty warm and cozy in here. I really just felt like going to sleep because it's warm and his bed is right there, and there's like...one...two…three...five blankets on there with two feather pillows! Plus the fact that I was exhausted; mentally and physically.

Can you guess why!?

"I made us some cucco stew. I'm not the best cook but I hear I'm pretty decent from the kids. They're always wanting free stuff from me," he said with an exhausted sigh. He was such a "big brother" figure to them. He placed the bowl of soup on the table and I sat in one of the two chairs. We ate quickly so we could get going. The stew he made was pretty good so I don't know why he doesn't think he's a good cook. Before I knew it, I was finished with my bowl that was previously filled with food. I stared at the empty brown bowl before Link took it up and set it in the sink.

"Well I'm glad you liked it. You finished it way before I did haha," he remarked.

He grabbed some soap and scrubbed the bowls until they were clean. He then rinsed them off and placed them back in one of his cabinets.

"We better get moving before the sun starts to set. It would suck if we had to go through the forest in the dark. There would be more monsters but luckily for us, I have a lantern we can use if that does happen. So...you ready Scarlett?"

Gosh, he was so quick with everything! I stood up from the table, and after going to the bathroom, left with Link through the forest again. My boots were really comfortable when walking, I noticed. That, or it was just the soft grass that surrounded the environmental ground. I could really just stay here for a week and hang out. It had all sorts of cute animals in it and the tall trees created the perfect shade.

"I like coming out here to think sometimes. I don't know what it is, but Faron Woods just has that calm feel to it. Unless of course it gets taken over by the Twilight! Let me tell you, being a wolf and collecting those light tears or whatever was no cakewalk! Those bugs were a bitch!" Link yelled out, throwing his arms out in frustration. I glanced at him as I played with the end of my hair.

"What are you talking about Link?"

He blinked at me before stopping in his tracks.

"What?" I asked.

"Wait, so...you didn't have to collect anything while you were in your wolf form?"

I shook my head and he groaned.

"You're so freaking lucky! When I turned into a wolf, Faron told me to get these light tears that some Twilight bugs stole. I had to go around the woods and kill these things with my teeth and their blood got on my tongue! It was really gross! What did you have to do when you turned into a wolf?"

"Well...everyone around me turned into spirits I guess so I started following these soldiers to the Castle to try to find a way out of being a wolf. Then, An unusual golden wolf was waiting for me at one of the town entrances and told me to follow him," I said. Link's eyes went big for a second.

"And you did!?"

"What was I supposed to do? I just turned into a wolf! I was pretty out of it man!" I said in defense. He opened his mouth to say something but he closed it and shrugged.

"Yeah that's true, because I sort of was too."

Okay good, I thought that was going to turn into an argument...Good thing Link is smart and knows when to stop. Yep, this will turn into a lovely friendship!

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

I could've argued on and on but you have to choose your battles when talking to a girl and I chose to stay quiet, as usual. It works wonders. The result was a laugh between us and an increasing friendship. Scarlett is very...unique. She's her own kind of person and that's a good thing! She acts kind and funny; I think she is just shy sometimes. I'm usually the shy one but I'm trying hard on getting away from that habit. I am surprised though that she and I were able to become friends so quickly. We kind of just said "Hi!" and that was that! Why couldn't every girl do that!? I'm talking to you IIia! Now I have to go save your ass because you decided that you were going to steal my horse! She was really stubborn but I didn't mind that often. Scarlett, however, seems a little more care-free with whatever I want to do so it's nice to have a friend who will do that.

"Link, how come I didn't get a green hat in my outfit!? I just noticed!" Scarlett yelled out. Was she talking before she said that!? Oh Gods, I feel so guilty now…

"I don't know why, but you don't need a hat. You have awesome blonde hair, and this badass pin in your hair so it's like the equivalent to my flimsy hat. How come I don't have that pin in my hair hmm!?"

"Good point…" She mumbled before we both laughed softly. See! So easy to talk to her! I wonder if Castle Town girls were all laid back like this.

I heard the sound of running water and my long ears perked up slightly. I turned my head to the left to see the spring in all of its glory. I smiled and kept going as we passed it. There was a small cave-like pathway ahead and I bet ten rupees it has a monster in it. I was right as a deadly plant rose up from some grass and licked its menacing lips at us.

Hate those things.

Scarlett stepped back but didn't scream like I thought she would. I looked to her and nodded my head at the plant.

"Alright, here's your first monster. All you have to do is cut its head off from the vine. Simple as that," I carefully told her. She nodded her head and took her sword out. The mark on her hand glowed when she swung her sword horizontally and killed the deku baba plant. I raised my left hand and examined the mark. Did Zelda say something about this thing when Midna and I met her in my wolf form? I looked up to see the blonde girl fist pumping the air with a grin on her face.

"Hell yeah! I kicked your ass you stupid plant!"

I smiled and chuckled.

"Yeah, you made that plant your bitch! Now come on, let's go find that temple!"

She and I walked through the little cave and stopped at a locked gate. I brought my hand to my chin to think about where the key to the lock on the gate would be. I turned my head to the right and saw one of the guys that lived out here in the forest. His name was Coro. He was a little weird but I think he has the key because this wasn't here before.

"Here, come with me," I vocalized to my partner. We walked over to the guy and he looked at me in a weird way. Why!? He was the one that had a huge afro as hair. I think he was just jealous that he didn't have my perfect hair! And no, I'm not too full of myself!

"Whoa! Oh! Sorry! You looked different in those green clothes. Be careful around here Link...I've seen monsters lurking around. That's why I locked the path from the Forest Temple. But...it looks like you and your friend here want to go to it. W-Well...I guess I can give you the key…" He said as he gave me a small gray key. I smiled and thanked him for the key. I also bought some extra lantern oil for an outrageous price! I would've thrown a fit if Scarlett hadn't been here. We walked back to the gate and I sticked the key in the keyhole.

"You know, you paid way too much for that lantern oil," She mentioned to me. I sighed and bowed my head low.

"I noticed...Let's just get to this Forest Temple and forget that my wallet is empty…"

She giggled as I unlocked the lock and opened the gate to the route of the Forest Temple. Hopefully there would be a sign of IIia or the kids there…

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! That was way longer than I expected it to be. I just keep writing and writing until I look at the word count and am like, oh crap! So as I said at the beginning in my author's note, A POLL ON WHETHER THE STORY SHOULD BE RATED 'T' OR 'M' WILL BE ON MY PROFILE. I WILL GIVE YOU THIS CHAPTER AND NEXT CHAPTER TO THINK ABOUT IT SO PLEASE GO AND VOTE! iT'S LITERALLY PRESSING A BUTTON SO DON'T BE LAZY! AND GUESTS CAN VOTE AS WELL BY PUTTING IT IN A REVIEW. THANKS! BY THE WAY, THIS POLL WILL BE ON FANFICTION ONLY SO IF YOU ARE FROM ANOTHER SITE YOU CAN JUST COME TO THAT SITE IF YOU WANT. Please review or comment on the story! I always love positive feedback and y'all did great on the first chapter! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I'll see you next time!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Forest Temple

**Hey guys! It's time for another chapter of my Legend of Zelda fanfic! I just took my AP chemistry test today and all I have to say is that the test is HORRENDOUS. Do not take AP chemistry unless you have a good teacher in which I did not. She was a total you-know-what. The only good thing about the whole test is that you get to go home afterward so I got home at 11 today. Pretty sweet huh? Anyways, the poll is still on the profile and the results will be in the next chapter. So far like seven people have voted so keep it up guys! You're doing great! Please review or comment on the story like you have been doing awesomely! I think I love you guys already! But you gotta keep it up! It doesn't matter if it's just a couple of words. Any words of encouragement, advice, or even criticism is helpful; and in return, I will keep putting out a chapter every week or two! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 3: The Forest Temple

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

After Link unlocked the gate, we both advanced forward into this long dark cave with empty torches in it. Link took out his lantern and lit up the first torch, making the whole entrance of the cave bright with red and orange colors. The way we were supposed to go was still dark though so we had to search for another empty torch in the darkness.

Hooray! Searching for something in the dark is every girl's dream!

Yep, as I predicted, there was an empty torch a few feet in the small dark cave so we were in a lighted area again. I looked down at the ground and noticed that it was made of wood; maybe this wasn't a cave, but a man-made tunnel. It doesn't matter anyways, I'm just observant sometimes. The wood was getting annoying though, because every time we walked it creaked loudly under our weight. We took two steps from the second lit torch before Link stopped in his tracks and put his hands out for me to stop. Good thing I saw him or else I would've ran my chest in his hand, and we all know that would've been awkward!

"Link, what's-"

"Shh..."

He quieted me gently as if he wanted to do it in a way where I wasn't exponentially pissed at him for interrupting me. It is an unspoken rule in a guy's handbook to never say quiet down a girl by "shh-ing" them or telling them to quote, "calm down". I closed my mouth and my pointed Hylian ears heard a small screech coming from the ceiling. Link and I looked up simultaneously to see two pairs of red eyes staring down at us like demons. I surprised myself when I immediately went for my sword instead of screaming like any other girl would do. When the "eyes" saw that we were a threat, they gave another horrid shriek before swooping down at us. I backed a few steps and slashed my sword when the creature flew in front of me. It's body fell to the ground in pieces and I recognized it as a bat. The species looked like a keese I think. Yeah, I listen in animal science class! So what!?

I looked up from the dead keese's body to see that Link had killed his enemy as well. He turned his head at me and smiled, nodding his head to the pathway.

"Well, now we know what enemies we'll be facing in here. Come on, let's get to the end of this tunnel before a whole army of them emerge from the depths of hell or wherever they freaking come from," He said jokingly. I smiled and nodded as we continued on. The rest of the tunnel wasn't that different from the entrance. There were a few empty torches here and there with the occasional small chest filled with rupees included. Who leaves these chests lying around!? When we finally got to the end of the tunnel, we reached a patch of land that was dirty and muddy. In front of us, however, was a field of purple fog. The fog covered up the whole area in front of us and it didn't exactly look clean. Link cautiously walked over to the edge of it to see if there was a way to get through this awful-looking mist without going through it. Some of the fog must have gotten on our side because Link suddenly wobbled around with a sigh like he was dizzy. Luckily, I was behind him to pull him back a couple of feet.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked him in concern. He nodded and blinked a couple of times.

"Y-Yeah...The fog just made me a little woozy...I guess I got too close to it," He said to me. He stood up straight again and I let my hands fall from his shoulders. I hope he's okay because I have no idea where I'm going and he knows the area. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed in thought while still scanning for a way into the fog without passing out from its vicious fumes. I tried to as well, and noticed that there was a small dock jutting out in the middle of the path. I don't know if this used to be a small pond but maybe the dock was a clue. I walked to the part where the land connected with the dock and then I stepped on the splintered wood to see if anything happened. Link followed and lifted his lantern, its light giving off a bright glow in the fog.

 _Ooh ohh! Ahh! Ahh!_

Please don't tell me that was a freaking monkey...Please don't tell me Link...I looked at him in confusion of the sound and he gave a small laugh.

"Did I mention our place has monkeys?"

"No! You didn't! Ugh, are they gross? Because if they are, I'm going to make you protect me the whole time we're here," I said to him with a serious look on my face. He laughed again and calmly told me that he planned on doing that anyway. He then raised his lantern higher and glanced at me as he spoke.

"...But really, the monkeys aren't so bad. They're actually kind of-" He stopped and gasped when a monkey jumped from one of the trees above and snatched his lantern from his grasp. I was about to cuss this monkey out but Link shook his head like he knew something would happen. The monkey, who had a flower on its head and a stick in its hand, attached the lantern to the top of the stick and started swing it in a circular motion. What was she doing?

"Whoa, the fog is started to disappear! See! look!"

Link pointed at the area around the monkey as the fog began to disappear. The monkey looked at us with, I suspect, a smirk on its face before jumping off the dock and moving the lantern around. I think it wants us to follow it. I was the first to hop off the dock, followed by link with a light thud on the hard solid ground. It was a rather tedious and long process of following the monkey, waiting for the fog to clear, and fighting off the occasional monster that lurked deep in the dark purple fog. When we finally reached the other side of the thick mist, we stepped upon a tiny pathway. That was probably where we needed to go. I had to admit, after spending five minutes around that fog, I was starting to feel like Link when he was woozy. I had to close my eyes for a minute before I felt better again. I couldn't help but notice that Link did the same. All of this was happening while the monkey just stared at us, dumbfounded.

 _Ooh! Ooh!_

The monkey gave a silly noise and dropped the lantern. The tiny animal then ran off, leaving Link and I alone together. Okay, so why did it help us in the first place!? Link crouched low to the ground and picked up the decent-sized lantern. His face turned sour as he frowned.

"What?" I asked.

"It's all out of lantern oil. Jeez, I bet you we'd still have some oil left if that monkey didn't take so long for nothing. But...I guess she did get us across the fog so I'll give her that. Good thing I bought some oil from Coro, even though I paid too much for it but I'll just have to let that go..." Link murmured as he took the cork off the bottle and filled the lantern up with newly-brewed lantern oil. Its greenish-yellow color glowed vibrantly before disappearing inside the "light-maker".

"Alright, let's keep going," he said to me. We walked onward until we saw a large tree-like structure ahead. That must have been the Forest Temple. It looked a lot more different than I imagined it would. Roots were spread throughout the trail as if the temple were just one big living tree. To our left, there was a small shop with no keeper to sell the potions that were in round pots. One pot was filled with the same red potion we had gotten back in Ordon Village while the other was filled with what looked like lantern oil.

"Would you two fine young people like to buy something!?"

Oh wait, there's a bird over there with an afro for a hair style; and of course it talks. Everything weird here talks! I can't even believe I'm not freaking out more over this. Link told the bird that we already had everything that we needed. The avian gave a disappointed sigh and told us he was always here if we ever needed anything.

"My master is not here right now, but I'm always present."

He said with a squawk. Good to know...

"We'll make sure to remember that when we pass by here again," Link said with a kind smile. He then lightly pushed me in the direction of the temple and whispered in my ear, "let's get the hell out of here..."

I laughed out loud and totally agreed with him. That bird was giving me the creeps and its constant noise-making was getting on my nerves; and I would feel sorry for anyone who saw me angry, especially Link. We hastened up to the Forest Temple and just before we could step foot on the large naturalistic bridge a golden wolf appeared in front of us. That was the same wolf that helped me get over to Faron's spring! I know we barely talked to each other, but I thought of him as a friend. Hey! When a talking, glowing wolf starts helping you you're gonna brag to your friends about it and say you have a golden wolf as a friend. It makes my "badassery" level increases ten-fold!

"Hey it's you! Where did you go? And why are you here now?" I asked him. The golden wolf stared at me for a second and it almost seemed like he was smiling.

 _"Young Heroine, I was always here. You just could not see me."_

"Oh...Well what's wrong now? Or is there something important you need to tell us?"

He nodded his head and twirled his tail around.

 _"Look around young Hero and Heroine."_

Huh? Link and I looked around and found ourselves in a bright realm . Everything was filled with light and everything was silent except for our mellow breathing. I think I could even make out mine and Link's heartbeat. I turned my head back to the wolf but he wasn't there anymore. Instead, there stood a tall skeletal figure that had armor covering the entirety of its body. A large Hylian helmet sat on top of its head as one of its eyes were red while the other one was dark. He kind of looked like a human version of the wolf. Behind him was a large castle that looked suspiciously like the Hyrule Castle but somehow different.

"Golden wolf, is that you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. I kind of felt bad for Link. He literally had no idea what was going on. Hopefully my friend here will explain everything to him.

 _"Yes, it is me. I find that you know me as a canine more, but this is my true appearance. Now come at me."_

Wait, what? I felt Link poke my shoulder.

"Uhh...I think he wants us to attack him…"

"What? Why?" I asked in confusion. He shrugged his shoulders and lifted up his sword. My "supposed" skeletal friend got into a fighting stance and waited for Link to attack him. The blonde looked at me and it felt like he was staring into my soul.

"Fine! I'll attack too! Damn…" I said in stubbornness. Link smiled a little and turned back to the armored soldier in front of us. He gave a battle cry as he leapt into the air and tried to attack the undead man; however, he was forcefully shoved back to the ground while I just got pushed a little bit. The difference between our impacts wasn't very fair...for Link...but he'll get over it.

" _A sword has no strength unless the wielder has courage. You two may be the chosen Hero and Heroine of this land, but your current state would disgrace the past Heroes who bore the uniforms you wear now. You must find courage to continue on. Once that happens, you will truly be the chosen heroes this land pleads for. If you wish to find_ _ **True Courage**_ _and wish to save Hyrule from the faces of evil then you will give me the honor of handing over my secrets to the both of you."_ He said. If I was hearing him right, courage seems to be a clue in why we were chosen; I'm flattered. He also said that he had secrets of his own to give us so is he one of the Gods that chose us to save Hyrule? Awesome!

"What kind of secrets?"

I felt the question leave the tip of my tongue before I even realized I had asked it. The skeletal soldier shifted his feet and swung his sword.

" _Secrets that have been passed down from generation to generation. It is now my turn to give you the ancient combat skills of the hero, and it is your turn to receive them. You both are worthy in my eyes."_

"Wait, so there have been multiple chosen heroes like us?" Link asked with widened ocean-blue eyes. The soldier went silent for a moment before shaking his head.

" _The time for explaining the past is later, young Hero…"_

He stopped like he couldn't think of anything else to say.

" _...Are you two ready for the first secret?"_

You changed the subject on us but yeah, I guess.

" _...Good. Enemies that are filled with stamina and the will to fight for their lord quickly recover with evil resonated in their souls. Even if you have stunned or injured them, they will most likely get up and continue with the battle. The "_ _ **Ending Blow"**_ _is the first and most essential secret in ending the life of a monster. When an enemy is on the ground, you must leap high in the air and deliver the final strike. If you fail, the enemy will get back up again. Your reaction time is critical young Heroes. Now, try it on me."_

He lifted up his sword at us and waited for us to do something. Link smirked and pressed his sword against the man's, as if it were like a handshake or high-five. Following their lead, I did the same. The man nodded and backed away. He then got back into his battle stance and waited for us. I hope we don't hurt him when we attack. Link and I both slashed our metal blades his way and sent him flying to the ground. He laid there for a few seconds and as he hit the ground I gave Link a corresponding look. He nodded quickly and jumped into the air, slamming his sword in the undead soldier's abdomen with a yell. I did the same after Link and the soldier below me gave out a grunt. I really wanted to be like, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry," but he looked fine to me. He finally stood up and lowered his weapons.

" _That was a clear strike. Never hesitate when using this skill young Hero and Heroine. The first hidden skill has been passed on and it will stay embedded inside you for as long as you live. You both learn quickly and that is important. However, there are six more hidden skills you must learn before you can fully save the land. Those skills are only for the Heroes who bear the Triforce of Courage on their hands. I can see that the courage inside both of you is evenly matched...Brave ones, grow strong. Test the courage inside of you for the greater good. Only then can you learn the next hidden skill at the statues that howl with the sound of the wind. Seek the sound that calls to me and I will appear before you once again. Please remember what I have told you. Farewell!"_

He told us as the light around us started to fade. Not long after that, we were back in front of the Forest Temple. The golden wolf was nowhere to be seen and the undead soldier, his true form, had disappeared completely. High in the sky, the sun was setting and its light casted a beautiful orange across our brightened pupils. Although, the creeping darkness made the Forest Temple look scary to the average little kid. I rose my gloved hands and flipped them around to see the symbol on my hand glowing. I think he called it...the Triforce of Courage? Only one of the triangles was glowing so what did the other two symbolize? I glanced over at Link and he was staring at his left hand. He had also been using his left hand when trying out that new technique the soldier just taught us.

"Okay I know this is a weird question...But are you left-handed Link?"

He looked up from his hand at me and smiled, shaking his head.

"I'm ambidextrous believe it or not, always have been. It's kind of cool because if I ever broke one of my hands I could just use the other one. I prefer my left one though even though my right hand and arm are probably stronger. I'm weird like that," He said with a cheeky smile. I rolled my eyes and snorted, "obviously."

"Hey!"

I giggled and shrugged my shoulders as I started to walk up to the giant temple. Link narrowed his eyes at me but followed nonetheless.

"So now we kind of know why we have these birthmarks on our hands. He said it stood for courage. Do you think since there's two of us that the courage is split up somehow? Or am I just overthinking it?" Link asked, walking into the temple with me.

"You're overthinking it," I replied with a nonchalant expression on my face. I was about to enter the temple but a large spider web blocked my path. That better just be because the place is so damn old. Link walked up to it and set it on fire with his lantern. The silky web disappeared in a few seconds and we were able to pass through. We walked through a dark tunnel and then we came into a large room inside the temple.

"Whoa…"

The room was very large. Two torches sat on both sides of us, giving the room a faint glow. Totem poles with ancient markings encrypted on them stood facing us. The walls and ceiling were made of dark wood that seemed to be apart of the tree. So basically the temple was a large tree. Yes, I was right! The whole concept is pretty cool when you think about it! Some of the walls had vines on them while the rest just had the same wood of the tree. Up ahead, a patch of grass sat in the ground motionless since there was no wind in here. Behind the grass was a tower with the door being on the second floor.

"This is so cool!" I said in excitement. Link smiled but got serious for some reason. I followed his gaze and my leaf-green eyes found that a monster stood by a caged monkey at the foot of the tower leading up to the door.

"There's another monkey," Link said, "They've done this sort of thing before. But why?" He asked to nobody in general. I just got here so I had no idea. I was still questioning why a monkey helped us get through that purple fog…

"Come on, we have to save it."

Link started to walk forward and I walked behind him. The monster, which looked like a half naked turnip-colored grandma, glanced over at us before lifting up its club and screaming something in its language. I'm not even kidding when I say he really did look like a hunchback grandma. Well I don't have a grandma now so I didn't feel bad when Link and I slashed our sword against the creature's throat. It's weird blood splashed out and the monster fell to the floor before blowing up in a puff of smoke. Is that really what happens when you die!?

"Don't worry monkey, we're here," Link said sweetly to the monkey. Giving him an "are you serious" look, I watched him destroy the cage the monkey had been put in. The furry animal had a sparkle in her eyes as a way to thank us. She, the monkey, then turned around and climbed up the tiny tower that lead up to the door, bypassing the big spiders on the vines. Wait, big spiders!? I freaking HATE spiders. They're absolutely horrible and they're gross and just...ugh...don't even get me started.

"This one wants us to follow her too," Link said to me. I didn't hear him since I was still staring at the spiders, watching their every move with suspicion. They're sneaky little bastards I tell you! You can't trust them! I gave a small gasp when they suddenly bursted into nothing. I looked over at Link and saw that he had used his slingshot on them. How many things does this guy have up his sleeve? Glad to know he's my partner.

"Alright let's follow the monkey now. Gods, I can't believe I just said that…" Link muttered while I laughed. The both of us climbed up the green vines with ease. This equipment that Faron gave us was so nifty and easy to manipulate! As soon as we reached the top, we walked to the "door" and stopped. It wasn't the normal door you saw in an everyday house. It was like a boulder that I guess you twirled sideways judging by the red marking on the front of it. I tried first but I couldn't because it was pretty heavy. Luckily, I had Link here to open it for me.

"Thank you," I said. He nodded and we stepped into the next room. I scanned this room as the rock-like door slid closed behind us. The room was filled with grass except for a large platform in the middle of it. A flight of stairs was connected to this platform so we could be higher. On each side of the platform, there was a thing of rope leading up to the same Boulder-looking door. There was a door up ahead as well.

"Hmm…" Link thought for a second while I felt a tug on my skirt. I looked down and the monkey stared at me.

"What?"

She pointed at the northern door so I guess that's where we were suppose to go. I was the one who reached the stairs first and as I took the first step a giant, and I mean giant, spider dropped down from its web from high up.

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed out of fear. It had to be bigger than me; its fangs were probably the size of my hands. It looked at me with its red eyes and I ran behind Link with another pathetic squeak. He smirked a little and glanced behind his shoulder at me.

"I thought you had the Triforce of Courage Scarlett," he teased.

"I do! But it's okay to be afraid of something! I hate spiders Link! Please kill it!" I screamed again and he sighed in pity. He pulled out his sword and cut the spiders legs from its body. It collapsed to the ground and that gave Link the chance to use his ending blow technique that my golden wolf friend had taught us. Once the spider blew up in smoke, I took a breath of relief and held my chest.

"Are you sure you're okay? You sound like you're hyperventilating."

I looked at Link and nodded my head.

"Yeah it's just I can't deal with spiders at all. Maybe it's a girl thing. But that's like the only thing I'm scared of so...well I'm sorry I got so frightened and screamed in your ear…" I apologized to him. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"You didn't bother me or anything. If it makes you feel any better, I really hate snakes. They don't have any arms! So tell you what, I'll kill the spiders for you if you kill the snakes for me. Deal?" He offered. I smiled and agreed to our little deal. The fact that he told me his little fear is evidence that we were becoming more like friends.

"So I'll light these torches and something should-" Link lit the four around the platform we were on and, as if he knew it was going to happen, a series of other platforms raised up from the ground and gave us an accessible path to the north door. There was a large blue chest next to it and you know I just had to open it. I mean, come on! The lock on the chest unbuckled as I opened it and felt a tiny map inside. Awesome, okay now we know we're going. Link and I went on through the north door and this led us outside. A bridge had been built a few feet away and smaller "wind bridges" flew to the left of said bridge. Tiny turbines twirled on top of them every time the wind decided to blow through them. They were designed to make the smaller bridges twirl in a counter-clockwise circle.

"That bridge doesn't look that stable," Link mentioned to me with a paranoid expression. I was little iffy on heights as well but I could handle it as long as I knew I was safe.

 _Ooh! Ooh!_

The monkey ran across the bridge on all fours. However, she stopped when she saw a white-furred monkey in front of her. It looked corrupted by how twisted its face was.

Kind of creepy actually…

The white baboon raised a large boomerang and threw it at us. We raised our shields to block the attack but in actuality he had been aiming for the bridge. The swinging weapon sliced through the rope with pinpoint accuracy before returning to its owner. The bridge fell apart with the monkey still on it, but she managed to hang on before she could fall in the never-ending abyss below.

Link cursed under his breath when he saw that we now had no way across. The white monkey laughed at us and turned around, slapping his red fat ass at us. Well that's just pleasant…

"You know, primates really annoy me." I confessed. The little female monkey climbed back up her side of the bridge and narrowed her eyes at me. I simply shrugged and it snorted at me. You can't hate me for being honest.

"Right or left little monkey?" Link questioned as we went back into the previous room. She picked the eastern door when we stepped down to the middle platform again. The only problem was that it was too high to get there. There was rope to lead you there but...I think we would get rope burn. No wait, these gloves are pretty great so they should help us out in any situation.

During my thinking, the monkey jumped on the rope and swung herself upside down, holding her hands out for us. I shook my head full of useless thoughts and now tried to figure out what she was trying to portray.

"She better not drop me."

"Hmm?" I hummed as I looked at Link but he was already jumping off the platform and onto the monkey. He clasped his hands to hers and she swung him to the other side. Dang, that was pretty smart!

"Okay when I said primates annoy me, I meant the ones that shake their asses at me," I informed her before jumping myself. Her eyes rolled and she helped me over to Link.

In the eastern room, it was just a wooden cavern. On the right, there was an ongoing path while on the left there was some pots sitting on the ground. Again, who put these here?

"What is that thing?" Link asked, pointing at this weird round bug staring at us. It's legs were long and it's body was just a big sphere. It started to come towards us and Link slashed at it with his Ordon sword. The thing cowered shortly after and turned a bright red. A 'Z' sound emitted from it and we both backed away from it. Sure enough, the thing blew up!

"Y-Yeah...Let's stay away from those things. Hmm, that pot is moving. What do you think is inside?"

I picked up the pot and dropped it back on the ground to break it open. A...I don't even know what it is...flew out of it and tilted its head up at us. It looked like a bird but I wasn't sure. Judging by Link's face, he found it disgusting.

"Oh thank you! I was trapped in there for what seemed like an eternity! I am Ooccoo! I have the ability to take you out of here and bring you back in the same spot if you ever feel the need. So can I hang out with y'all." She asked with a bright look. Ugh, soooooo ugly...I peered at the blonde boy beside me and nudged his shoulder. I cupped my hands so the "bird" wouldn't hear me whispering, "Hey how do you keep all of the stuff you have with you?"

He blinked and smiled when he realized what my plan was.

"Midna keeps all of my crap. So I don't think she would mind if we just...stowed...this thing in with my other stuff. Oh Midna~"

His shadow grew sideways for a second before the familiar twilight creature appeared; her grin still appearing on her face.

" _Yes?"_

"Can you keep Ooccoo for us please?" Link implored her. She rolled her bright eyes and snapped her fingers. Ooccoo disappeared with the sound her snap and we all sighed in relief. Thank Hylia…

"Thanks Midna."

" _No problem, just get through this temple okay? We need to hurry up!"_ She yelled in annoyance. She then went back into Link's shadow and left the two of us, and the monkey, alone.

Moving on, the next room was filled with water and tiny squared-tiles. Of course, there was that giant spider again and Link had to kill it for me. The monkey then led us to a door but it was locked. But, there was another door which let us outside again with the magic "wind bridges". All we had to do here was walk across the bridge and go to the room ahead, which contained a small ancient key.

Jackpot.

The gray key unlocked the door from the last room and there we found a second monkey. Great, there better not be like eight of these. The second monkey was in a cage on top of a large totem pole; the same type of poles we saw at the entrance of the temple. Link and I tried to push the pole down but it was too heavy. That was before Link smiled and a magical light bulb appeared above his head.

"I have an idea."

He backed away a few feet and then rolled into the pole, making it fall and break. Link rubbed his head with a grimace on his face.

"Are you alright? Not one of your better ideas."

"It worked didn't it?" He said with a sigh. Large sounds were suddenly heard from above and those same grandma-looking monsters dropped down. They found that being hidden would catch us off guard, ostensibly assassins. Too bad for them though. My sword quickly ended their lives with just one swing and the flick of the wrist. Killing living things was bad, like really bad, but I did not feel as if I was doing something wrong by killing these creatures; murdering them essentially. For one it was self defense and two they were evil.

I think that kind of logic deserves a sticker!

"Great job, now come on we probably have to find more monkeys. Apparently they all know how to swing a human across a broken bridge," Link said. He was talking about the bridge that we walked across after entering the giant open room. The two monkeys had swung on the rope of the broken bridge and swung us both across. Now that we had finished the left side of this temple, we had to go to the right side now.

Long story short, we came upon, yet another, large room. New enemies lived inside with one being a red flesh-eating plant. It shot acid at me and Link and I swear it almost hit me in the face. The other enemy was this flower. Or at least it looked like a flower. It turns out it had an army of teeth in its mouth, just waiting for an unfortunate being to fall in their mouths. Link found that those "Bomb bugs" from earlier were essential in killing those things. But anyway! We came to a room with these rows of tiles and under the tiles were, you guessed it!

Snakes!

Link's soft blue eyes widened as the snakes under the tiles stared at him with an evil, malicious grin. He looked to me and I patted his shoulder for comfort.

"Don't worry, I got this big guy."

He smiled and watched at I tried to attack the first one under the second tile. It stuck its head down and it looked like it had gone away. I took a step on the first tile and was promptly sent flying. The reason for this? The snake under the tile bounced its head back up! What a jerk! Link gasped loudly as he caught me in his arms.

"Thanks Link, hehe," I laughed nervously. I turned my head back at the rows of tiles and the water beside them. Turning back to Link, I smiled sheepishly and shrugged, "Why don't we just swim across?"

"Good idea."

The water felt cool on my skin as I slipped into the water. It felt kind of nice. It did not take long to get to the other side and take the key hidden inside a large blue chest. One would think this whole thing was organized.

With that key, we found the third monkey. The fourth monkey, however, was a little bit more difficult to get to. A large plant monster guarded it and it swayed with your every move. Its neck was long so it had a better attack radius than some of its enemy acquaintances. I learned that out when it came flying towards me and I had to raise my shield up to block its humongous mouth. I fell backwards and tumbled on my back with a grunt.

"Scarlett!" Link yelled in a worried tone before glaring at the "Big Baba" plant. By the time I stood back up, he had killed it and freed the fourth monkey from its confinement.

"You alright?" He asked me straight after.

"Yeah Link, haha just a couple of scrapes from hitting the floor so hard."

"Okay well if you feel really bad, just ask me for a potion and I'll give it to you. These monkeys can lead us to our goals and swing us across bridges but they can't help in combat!? Lame…" He groaned. He was obviously trying to make me feel better and it worked tremendously as I giggled. The monkeys were not amused. Did we care though? Nope!

The sum of the monkeys was now four. They were all either best friends or brothers and sisters. They all think alike too because they all ran back to the outside part of the temple where that white monkey had made the bridge disconnect from its sides. Staying true to their constant process, they swung on the rope that had held the past bridge up and waited patiently for us to swing across.

"Don't look down and you won't think about it," advised the teenage boy next to me. I nodded and swung across. My heart was beating so fast at the possibility of falling. The feeling of my boots hitting solid ground had never been so gratifying. Once Link landed behind me we could now go into the next room. Thank Hylia this room was a dead-end instead of a chain of rooms. It had like six or seven ancient totem poles placed around it. What was up with the damn totem poles?

 _Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!_

That white monkey showed himself again and raised the boomerang that was oddly way too big for him. He must have stolen it. Then again, it looked way too big for even someone like me or Link so who's boomerang would it be really? Midna, out of nowhere, showed up and pointed at the magic boomerang the baboon was trying to throw at us.

"Get that boomerang! Now! It should help us on finding the part I need! Hurry your butts up guys! Roll in the totem poles! Do something! Attack his butt! I don't know!" She screamed at us with intense exasperation. She then left us to do the job for her. She acted so petulant all the time…But...we ended up following her strategy and it really worked! Slashing at the white monkeys butt proved too much for the primate to handle and he fell to the ground with bruises all over his buttocks. I think I've seen enough monkey ass for the day.

"What's that?" Link asked. He pointed at a moving bug on the monkeys fur. It jumped off and crumbled in the ground. I guess it just died. The white monkey got up when the parasite died and his face wasn't in the same twisted manner it used to be in. Ah, I get it. He was being possessed. His boomerang was also not itself in that it was separated into two smaller versions of it. One for me and Link. How gracious of it.

I walked over to them and picked one of them up. I examined it and saw the letters on the side, "Gale Boomerang", in beautiful cursive. I picked the second one up and handed it to Link who went all googly-eyed at his new item.

He's such a boy, sigh…

To get out of the room, it turned out that you actually needed the boomerangs. There were tiny turbines above the door and when wind hit them, it made them raise the gate that had fallen over the door shortly after our entry. The same went with finding the big key to the large room deep in the temple. I was really just going by the dungeon map we found. Nonetheless, the large key was in the room filled with water. It was hidden behind a large locked gate with four wind turbines positioned as a square. Link tried throwing the boomerang and moving all the turbines at once but that didn't work. I sighed and covered my eyes with my hand because a ray of light managed to seep through the cracks of the temple. Wait a minute…

"Link, look at the sunlight on the ground. It's in like...a 'Z' shape so maybe you hit the one on the top left first, then the right, and then the same thing for the bottom ones after that. See if that works."

He nodded and did as I said. It worked and unlocked the gate. Not only did we solve the puzzle, but my confidence level increased extremely. I was starting to think I wasn't very useful to the journey, but that's just my paranoia talking again.

"Wow, you're so smart Scarlett! And holy Hylia! This key is gigantic!" Link exclaimed as he opened the chest and lifted up the key to the final room.

And I just realized that none of that went under the saying, "long story short"...What can I say? Link and I tend to be wordy.

That's a lie in case you didn't notice.

Back to the task at hand! Link and I went back to one of the larger rooms of the temple that had a black field of darkness below after finding the remaining monkeys. They were not hard to find at all. There were eight monkeys in all. In the room, there were mushrooms that grew out from the wall of the tree and all of the monkeys we found were jumping on them. When they saw us come in, they all teamed up together to form one big swing. These monkeys were awfully repetitive weren't they? Nevertheless, we swung to the other side and climbed the tall wall of vines. I'm going to be really fit after all of this is over!

"Finally…" Link sighed exhaustively. We made it to the top and were not just feet away from the final room. Before that though, you know we couldn't resist the urge to break open the pots on both sides of the final door. We could just stick our hand in the pot and take whatever was inside but it's more fun smashing them. The people who used to own them obviously did not care about them if they left them in a place like this.

"Okay, let's go inside."

"Wait! Wait! There's one more pot," I said. Link stopped and tapped his foot impatiently."

"Scarlett-"

"Hold on! We have to get all of them!" I yelled as I smashed it. Instead of a rupee or some other treasure, a small ball of light flew out of the pot when it hit the ground. I squinted my eyes at it before Link freaking scared the crap out of me by slamming a bottle over the tiny creature.

"Link!? What the hell!? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry! It's just fairies are super valuable and if either one of us were to...well...die...than this little guy would bring us back. But that's not gonna happen! To you anyway...I'll make sure you stay alive Scarlett because it's my duty as the guy on the team!"

I rose an eyebrow and smiled.

"Hmm, as the guy on the team? I don't plan on letting you die either Link so don't waste all of your energy on me. Plus, we're the chosen heroes remember!? The Gods are on our side as well as the golden wolf. Now let's see what's behind this door…" I opened the door with the large key and the giant lock on the front of it fell to the ground, making it shake a little. The door lifted itself for us and we walked through.

This room was smaller than the other ones. There were some pots and jars all around the circumference of the room with a small pond in the front of the room. Was something supposed to happen?

"Midna, what-"

 _Sssssssssssss!_

Purple water flew out in all directions as two large babas sprung up high up to the top of the room. The two heads screeched at us and we both covered our ears from the awful sound. It was more annoying than scraping a fork against a glass plate. Just awful.

The two heads then licked their lips and focused everything on us.

 _ **Twilit Parasite: Diababa**_

"Umm...Link? Are you also seeing bold letter in front of this thing that says, 'Twilit Parasite: Diababa'?" I asked in confusion. He nodded, "Yeah."

"Well what is that? Why are those words just floating there like that?"

"Scarlett, after all of the crap that has happened to us today, are you really questioning it?"

Meh, good point. The words disappeared anyway after a few seconds.

"...Watch out!" Link yelled when one of the heads launched itself at me. Link pushed me out of the way and I gave a quick thanks as I got up to attack the beast. It was too fast though as it retracted its head back over the poisonous purple pond. How very fair of it. I looked around for a way to defeat these things and saw one of those bomb bugs just chillin'. I got out my boomerang and threw it over to the bomb, and then directed it to one of the heads. The explosion caused great pain for the left serpent-like monster and it sank back into the pond it rose out of. Link followed my lead and did the same with the right head.

"Alright so, that's it?" I asked with a growing smile. Link slapped his forehead and groaned.

"Oh no Scarlett, don't say that. You jinxed us."

And sure enough he was right. A larger serpent shot out from the water and roared at us. Its teeth looked menacing while its tongue gave the appearance of an eye. The other two serpents we just fought reappeared and now there were three of them! That's just wonderful; me and my big mouth…The bad part about it being that our first strategy didn't work with this middle one. That led to Link just running around mindlessly and me dodging incoming attacks.

 _Ooh! Ooh!_

The white monkey from earlier showed himself in the upper-right hand corner of the room with a bomb bug in his hands. He slapped his butt at the giant serpent and began swinging on a piece of rope he had brought with him. I was definitely fine with him helping us now. With the two serpents gone for now, he threw the bomb he had directly at the middle one and it had a better impact than our attempt did. The evil creature fell to the ground with its mouth open and its eye staring at us, desperately trying to get away.

"Now!" Link yelled. He and I attacked the eye almost immediately and with our combined strength the serpent shot back up in the air and slowly wilted away in place. Pieces of its body were scattered everywhere and the dimness in the room lightened to a whole new level. The poisonous pond dissolved itself, leaving behind an ancient piece of something and a heart-shaped glass container. Midna appeared instantly and pumped her fist.

" _Yes! You guys did it! This is one of the pieces I need!"_ She told us as she picked up the piece of, I guess, a helmet. It kind of matched the headdress she wore on top of her head. She turned around back at us and grinned mischievously, " _Just let me know when you two want to leave this place. I'll transport you out."_

"Alright Midna, but first things first. This container..."

Link picked up the glass container and let his eyes analyze it with curiosity. The heart shape of the container was clearer with the bright red color that was inside the glass.

"What do you think it is?" I asked the blonde boy. He shrugged and threw it down to the ground, making the glass shatter at our feet. I quietly gasped and glared up at him.

"Why did you do that!?"

He shrugged with that smile of his and my glare was forced to soften with his innocent gaze. Curse his sky-blue eyes! At our feet, the shattered red glass turned into the form of a mist and circulated around us before disappearing. My own heart felt like it grew along with my stamina and strength. I felt like a whole different person!

"That felt awesome! Man, I hope there are more of these things throughout Hyrule. Well Scarlett, it's all nice and cozy in this spider infested, dirty temple but I'd rather just get out of here. What say you mistress from castle town?" Link asked in a fancy accent. I was too happy to roll my eyes as I grinned and nodded my head. We both looked at Midna and she snapped her fingers, sending us up in the air before the image of the temple disappeared completely…

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Jesus! So freaking long! And I had AP tests this week so I have no idea how I got this done. I tried to make this chapter not seem like I was repeating certain words or phrases so if you have any advice please tell me in a review or comment. Just remember to be nice about it lol. Oh, and Link will probably have more POV time for now on because we gotta get the guy point of view, am I right? I tried to get him in this chapter but I forgot until the end of it. Again, please vote on whether the story should be rated 'M' or 'T'! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	4. Chapter 4: Finding Eldin

**Hey guys! I am finally done with my AP exams and thus done with school. I still have to go the remaining three weeks or whatever but we're just going to watch movies or something. I also have finals but they shouldn't be that hard. Anyway, YOU GUYS HAVE VOTED ON WHETHER THE STORY SHOULD BE RATED 'M' OR 'T' AND IT WAS KIND OF CLOSE. BUT THE WINNER IS RATED 'M' WITH 5 VOTES AS OPPOSED TO RATED 'T' WITH 3 VOTES. IF YOU LIKED IT AS RATED 'T' DON'T WORRY BECAUSE THE ONLY THING THAT WILL CHANGE IS THAT THERE MIGHT BE MORE CURSING IT, NOT MUCH, AND MORE DESCRIPTIVE BATTLE SCENES. IF THERE IS ANYTHING ELSE I'LL WARN YOU. Alright, now that that's out of the way! Please review and comment on the story to tell me what you think! That's why writers put stuff on here so we can get feedback from the readers, plus we're bored. Finally, thanks so much for reading and here's the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 4: Finding Eldin

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

The feeling of being teleported made your whole body feel like jelly. It was so weird, yet satisfying. Midna had transported us from the Forest Temple, thank gods, and back to Faron's spring. The cool mist hit my white face as we found ourselves in the shallow water once again. I could literally just hang out here all day if I could. I looked over at Link and he stretched his arms out with a sigh before sitting in the water. After that temple, he probably didn't even care that his clothes got wet. He brought his legs up and leaned his arms on his knees, just enjoying the openness of the spring. I sat next to him and crossed my legs while leaning on my palms.

"Soooooo...What do we do now?" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish smile, "Hell if I know."

Well, Midna would probably tell us anyway. Her, or-

" _ **Oh great heroic youths…"**_

Yeah, him.

" _ **...Your journey is far from over. Head east in search of another spirit, Eldin. There, you will find the ones you seek. However, beware. For this area is in the Twilight. You will transform back into your wolf appearance,"**_ Faron said in his ever so intelligent voice. The voice then disappeared soon after. Now that we knew what to do, I stood up and casted my hand out to Link. He took my hand with a smile and stood up as well, grateful for the help.

"Then it's off to Hyrule Field then. He just said go east so there better be a path that's straightforward and simple enough."

I nodded my head along with Link as we left the spring. We traveled on over to the area where that weird guy with the afro was and he waved at me when we walked past him. He better not think he could get with me or something! Or he was just waving like a friendly person...I waved back anyway and left Faron Woods through the eastern gate. Oh man, Hyrule Field was so beautiful! It was so big and filled with trees. I love trees and flowers okay.

"I've only been here twice now, but I love this place!" I exclaimed to the teenage boy next to me. He smiled and agreed with me.

"Yeah me too. I usually don't go this far away from the village but when I do I like to ride Epona through the field. She doesn't have as much room in the forest, but out here it's like she's completely free!" He yelled with his arms out. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows.

"Epona? Please tell me you're not talking about riding a girl here because that's really gross Link." I teased. His eyes went wide as he gasped and waved his arms frantically.

"No! Epona's my horse!"

"You have a horse?"

"Yep! I've had her ever since I was like ten. She's my animal best friend if that's even a thing. Ilia, the girl I told you about who was kidnapped, used to always take her from me whenever she thought I was mistreating Epona. I never was but Ilia's always been a stubborn person. I didn't mind though…" Link told me as we started down the dirt path leading up to the giant field. He stopped and an idea looked like it had just hit him.

"Speaking of Epona…"

He looked around and sighed in relief when he saw a particular plant. He picked up what looked to be some horse plant from its root and blew on it. A gentle melody came out and my eyes started to sparkle. The sound was so soft sounding, so mesmerizing. When he was done, he opened his eyes and looked around again. He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and he sighed again, this time in sadness.

"What?" I asked in concern.

"I taught Epona to come to me whenever I blew into this plant so she should be here right now. Oh well, I guess I'll see her later or something." He said. I didn't know you could call a horse with that plant, I thought that's just what it was called. Link smiled a little and shook his head.

"If Ilia were here I would probably blame Epona's disappearance on her."

I tilted my head in interest.

"Was Ilia your girlfriend or just your friend?"

"Just a friend. She's the only person in the village that's the same age as me so naturally she's my best friend. Though, you might give her a run for her money Scarlett! If you save my ass from an army of snakes you got the title! I promise!"

I laughed at his overly-positive attitude. It was nice having a friend like this. To tell the truth, my friends in Castle Town are a little snobby and stuck up because they think they're "big shots". My best friend Dante is sometimes like that but he's one of the more tame ones. I wonder where he is right now…

"I did used to like her though."

"Huh?" My head shot up at the sound of Link's voice next to me.

"Ilia. I used to like her as more than a friend but she's too...I don't know...egotistical," He said after some thought. I could totally relate with that. I think ANY girl could relate with something like that! Guys had a huge ego that only us girls can take down! Okay we probably have big egos too but you don't see me admitting that anytime soon. I spoke up again as we crossed a small wooden bridge with a pond of water below it.

"That's understandable. It must suck only having one girl your age in the village. Did you plan on moving to Castle Town or something to have more options?"

"Hmm...I haven't thought about it. Like, I like being on the ranch and I love the fresh air the countryside gives you. But, if there's no one to spend the peace with then why bother with it? I guess the Gods chose for me and are making me travel."

He stopped to look at the sky. The sun was setting and everything was getting dim. He looked around and his blue eyes stopped at a large pretty tree near a body of water. Turning back to me, he started for the tree and motioned for me to follow him.

"It's getting dark so we should probably set up camp. This tree should work nicely."

I followed him over to a large tree that had a large covering of green leaves. Ladybugs crawled on some of them while other leaves sat alone. The brown bark that acted as the foundation looked bright and young. Judging by my biology class knowledge, this tree couldn't have been more than twenty or thirty years old. I rubbed my hand up and down it with a smile on my face. Link picked up one of the sticks at the base of the tree and put them in a small pile a few feet away from the trunk.

"A small fire should keep us warm for the night. It will also give us some light in case any monsters try to attack us."

I looked at him, surprised.

"Monsters? You think they'd attack in the middle of the night?"

"It's entirely possible. Most of them sleep but I've heard stories of undead wolves rising up from the ground and attacking merchants passing by. Sorry Scarlett I'm not trying to scare you haha," he laughed genuinely. My widened eyes must have given off the impression that I was frightened. Of course I'm not though. I don't care if something attacks me during the night just as long as they're not spiders. Those fucking spiders in that Forest Temple will haunt my dreams forever.

"I'm not scared," I reassured him. I took my hand off the tree and helped Link pick some of the sticks up and throw them in the pile. The question was, how were we going to start the fire? Don't tell me you were going to rub two sticks together were you Link?

"Hey Midna?"

 _"Yes~"_

"Can you make a fire for us?" Link asked her nicely. She sighed and snapped her fingers. The pile of sticks then suddenly blew up in flames! Midna was useful when she wanted to be. She actually stayed out instead of going back into Link's shadow. She laid herself in front of us and marched her fingers along the grass.

" _The second thing I need should be where that spirit guy said. If not I'm going to pissed! You guys better get some sleep though so you're not tired tomorrow. I'll wake you up at...I'm gonna say nine o'clock since you got through the temple fast enough. You should thank me, I'm letting you guys sleep in!"_ She said proudly. As if we were going to thank her for anything other than making us the campfire. I looked at Link and he was totally ignoring her. Pretty sure he was used to her blabbering by now. She couldn't be the most annoying sidekick could she?

"Can we eat first? My stomach has been growling ever since we entered Hyrule Field."

Midna glanced at me and squinted her eyes. I pulled back in uncomfortability as she stared at me with that look. Was it something I said?

" _Fine...I guess you Hylians need to eat sometime…"_

"Thank you!" I yelled in thanks as I began digging in my small bag. I had a couple of things in here: two apples, some strawberries, a few deku nuts, a small box of potato crisps, and some candy I forgot I had from home. I took out the box of potato crisps and started to eat them. Link preferred just a simple orange as he started to peel off the outer covering. He looked over at me and stood up.

"Where are you going?" I asked in confusion. He smiled and sat next to me.

"Just wanted to sit next to you. It was lonely over there."

I laughed and continued to eat my snack. I offered the blonde boy some but he said he wasn't feeling that hungry right now. By the time I was done eating, my stomach was satisfied and drowsiness started to settle in. My eyes started to droop but I had to go to the bathroom first. I wiped my gloved hands on my knees and stood up. Link tilted his head up at me.

"I'm just going to the bathroom real quick before bed."

"Alright, be careful," He told me. I nodded and walked over to a distant bush where no one could see me. So yeah, I did my business and took a deep breath. The air here was cool and I could see my breath every time I exhaled. The stars were more elegant tonight and the moon was close to being full. With a peaceful hum, I walked back to the camp. Link was taking off his sword sheath and laying out a blanket next to him.

"I'm back," I announced. He smiled and presented the blanket to me.

"I laid this out for you so you wouldn't get cold. It's a little chilly tonight."

There's that nice nature of him showing itself again. I felt myself smile even more at his thoughtfulness and generosity. I saw down on the soft knitted blanket and looked at him.

"Thank you Link, but what are you going to use?"

He shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

"I don't need a blanket, this tunic is warm enough, plus I'm just gonna lean on the tree and sleep," he told me, scratching his stomach in the process.

"Okay, but do we need to take turns taking watch for any nighttime enemies?" I asked in worry. He shook his head again and pointed to his pointed ears.

"Nah, I'm a pretty light sleeper so I'll hear anything if it gets too close. Oh man, I'm more tired than I thought,"He yawned. He leaned back on the tree and rested his arms behind his head. He had his left leg laid out straight while his right leg was angled. I laid down on my side and rested my face on my arms.

"Goodnight Link…"

"Goodnight Scarlett…" He called back to me. Midna watched us close our eyes and fall asleep in front of her and growled.

" _How come they didn't say goodnight to me!?"_

* * *

The sun was even brighter today than it was yesterday and it was hot! There were a few clouds in the sky but they didn't cover up the sun's heat of course. Cloudy bastards...Midna woke me up like she said she would at nine o'clock. My body felt refreshed and new after yesterday's work. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes slowly and sat up on the nice little blanket Link had set out for me. It might have been comfier than my own damn bed back at home. That, or I was just that tired. I yawned quietly and stretched my arms out, my bones popping with the sudden movement.

" _Link...Link wake up. Link!"_

Midna was trying to get Link up but he rolled around on his stomach and planted his face in the grass with a groan. Light sleeper, my ass. Luckily we didn't have any problems last night pertaining to monsters.

"Ugh...Go away Midna…" Link groaned. I looked over at him and giggled. He wasn't a "morning" kind of person was he. Midna flew her arms up in surrender and looked at me.

" _You wake him up! He likes you!"_

"Oh Midna, I'm sure he likes you, you just annoy him," I laughed. She exhaled strongly while I touched the boy's arm and shook him gently. He groaned again but not as loud as when Midna shook him. I shook him again but he just would not budge.

"Link, get the fuck up!"

That did it. His blue eyes popped open in surprise and he shot up, "I'm up! I'm up! Geez, can't a guy get some sleep around here?"

Midna smirked and evil grin and flicked his nose.

 _"Nope! Now get your ass moving! You two have another big day ahead of you! And if you don't get up, I'll just snap my fingers and set your butt on fire you lazy boy!"_ She threatened. Link grunted at her and stood up finally. His dirty-blonde hair stayed in the same cool style it was yesterday. How does he even do that!? I looked at my own hair and it was still pretty, it just needed some brushing was all. I didn't have a brush in my bag so I just used my fingers and it worked fine. We didn't bother sticking around our camp site long, seeming as how Midna wouldn't shut up about us being slow. I took my steps in a slow pace though ironically enough because I knew I was about to be turned back into a wolf; might as well enjoy being a Hylian while I can. Link told me it hurt when he turned into the wolf the first time but I was passed out my first time so I have no idea what the feeling will be; unless my body is used to the transformation.

"It's just up ahead," Midna told us with a big grin on her face. She just loved seeing us miserable.

We took our sweet time walking over to the east pathway. When we reached the area in front of the giant black wall, Link had told me about before, we stopped.

 _"Are you guys ready to go inside?"_ Midna asked. Link and I looked at each other before we both nodded reluctantly. She giggled at us and floated in the black void. I looked at Link, puzzled.

"Ummm, is something-...oh crap!"

A large orange hand extended itself from inside the void and grabbed both me and Link, smashing us up against each other. I would've blushed but I was too busy freaking out! We both yelled as we were pulled into the darkness. I had no warning as my body started to shift from a human into a canine's. The bone cracking and changing part was kind of painful but overall it was okay. It felt really gross growing all that hair though.

" _Oh yes, this is better."_

I looked up to see Midna in her solid form instead of a shadow. Wolf Link presented his back to her so she could ride on him but she shook her head.

" _I think I'll take Scarlett this time,"_ She said to him as she jumped on my back. I yelped in surprise and Link growled at Midna to get on his back instead.

"Oh shut your mouth Wolfie. She'll be fine. And by the way, you two can talk to each other since you're both animals now. But there's no time for talking right now! We have to go wherever Eldin is or whatever! Onward Scarlett the wolf!"

She slapped my bottom and I started to run. I knew this was going to get old real quick...Link followed close behind as if he were scanning the area for any suspicious activity. He then stopped at something in the middle of the road and barked at me. I stopped my four-legged running and looked back at him.

"I recognise this," He said. He brought his snout down to the little object that looked like a wooden sword. He sniffed it for a few seconds before looking up with wide blue eyes. He didn't even tell me what was going on as he started to run along the path. I ran after him and looked around, the bright shiny sun that was outside in our world had turned into a dark orange ball of depression, making the sky polluted with its darkness. Little black stuff floated in the air and it made me paranoid as to whether I should breathe in this air.

"Link where are we going?"

"That sword had the scent of one of the kids from my village! They have to be this way!"

Fair enough. We ran along for a couple more minutes before a large metallic sound was heard through our sensitive ears. Up in the sky, a large portal of black, red, and blue appeared and opened up. Three of those beasts I saw earlier in the forest dropped down from it and hit the ground, making it shake. How did that golden wolf kill it again? He jumped on it and ripped its throat out so maybe I needed to do that. Link backed up towards me and Midna finally got on his back instead of mine.

" _Remember what I said about these things Link. We gotta work together. Scarlett, stay back for now,"_ Midna told me before directing her attention to the shadow beasts. Link ran up to all of them and Midna let out her orange hair, creating a large field of black. I continued to stare as they let the black field go and Link started dashing here and there. He just freaking obliterated every single one of those beasts! Link's such a badass! They all fell to the ground at the same time and then disappeared into blackness. Link came back to me and I noticed some nasty-colored blood on his snout.

"Oh, hold on."

I pawed at his face carefully and wiped it off. He gave me what looked like a doggy smile and I laughed.

"Thanks. Those things are really annoying but whenever you kill a group of them they create a warp portal for you so if we ever needed to get back here Midna can teleport us here. That part's awesome but killing them is exhausting. I think that's all you're good for Midna. That and making us a fire."

His head tilted back to look at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled and motioned for us to keep going. He sniffed the ground again and started running like he had five minutes ago. We both ran across the bridge that hovered over a large canyon until we reached a gate. The top of the gate had spikes on it so we couldn't jump over it.

"Link, what do we-"

He was already crawling under it by the time I started my sentence. Okay, Link's a smart badass now. I followed in his steps and squeezed my way under the gate with little effort. My tongue hanged out as I panted like any normal dog would.

Up ahead, a village sat by itself in despair. The overall atmosphere of the place was desert-like as tumbleweeds rolled past us and the wind carried dust along with it. The buildings needed some serious construction and nobody was here at all. With some work, this village could look pretty and be a tourist stop. We passed under the entrance sign, **Kakariko Village** , and looked for a spring since Faron had one. It was the only thing we could think of.

"There's one Link!" I yelled, nodding to our left. We both ran to it with Midna on Link's back and just before we could enter the spring another black portal appeared in the sky above us. Oh great...Link was right, these things really were annoying. It did not matter however as Link killed them quickly. Knowing Midna, she would probably make me kill them next time just to make sure I knew how to. We could now reach the spring after the little fight ended. The water washed off all the dirt from my paws, but the water did not turn brown. It kept its clear fresh image even though we were covered in dust. Once we got close enough to the tiny waterfall of the spring a familiar ball of light rose up from the water, just like it had in Faron Woods.

" _ **Young Heroes...I am a spirit of light...Please look for my light that has...been stolen from me...by the creatures of the dark...Oh great heroes...chosen by the Gods...take this light vessel...and fill it up...with my light...You will find the light in...the insects of darkness that have scattered throughout my land...They are invisible however...as are the people of this village...Please find them my heroes. Be careful...the darkness now hunts you…"**_

The ball then faded away and inserted itself back into the water. Link looked back at me as Midna took hold of the light vessel. It looked like a small green bean-shaped item with empty orbs attached to it. My guess is that you put the light in those orbs.

" _Hmm, we'll probably have to do this with every new light spirit we see. I like doing this though, it just gives me more time to enjoy the twilight and catch a ride on one of you two. Although, Link you might have to explain all of this to Scarlett. Remember she's new to all of this."_

"Yeah, so am I," He barked at her. She waved him off and he looked at me.

"...Alright so like I said before in Faron Woods, I had to collect light for the spirit Faron by killing these twilight insects and they're really gross. Believe me Scarlett, they're nasty. The only way to kill them is by biting them and ripping them open, so don't be surprised when their blood gets on your tongue; the taste isn't good either. There should be like...Hmm...Just a few of them so we can either stick together or split up. What do you want to do?" He asked me. Did he really just ask that question!?

"Of course I'm sticking with you guys. There's no way in hell I'm going anywhere alone now."

He and Midna smiled and nodded their heads.

"Alright then, fine with me. Let's start by sniffing out the area. You've noticed that you can see special things if you do that right?"

I nodded.

"...Cool! So I can sense one from inside one of the buildings so let's start there."

He started walking over to the building and I followed him hesitantly. I don't know why, but for some odd reason I knew this was going to suck…

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 **And that is the end of the chapter! This chapter was shorter than the other ones but this one is pretty much how the standard chapter will be. The dungeon chapters will be longer because I include the whole dungeon in one chapter. Yep! Again, the story is rated 'M' now but I will warn you guys if I really use that rating for granted. So don't think this story will just be the most violent, horrible, gory story that some rated 'M' stories are. I promise to satisfy both kinds of readers at the same time haha. Please review and comment on the story guys! I can't stress that enough! It literally takes a minute to write a simple review. Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time! P.S. Sorry for talking so much...**


	5. Chapter 5: Lightened Tears

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! I only have tomorrow and next week left of school before summer starts and I can't wait to finally sleep in for once! I don't think I've slept in since...Christmas. Yeah Christmas! It is also my birthday today so it would be cool if you guys told me "Happy Birthday" haha. I turn eighteen today. And yes, I feel old already. My hands constantly shake because of these AP exams and the stress they give me. My teacher said I was gonna die young. Nice -_- But now that I'm almost done they've stopped shaking, though I should probably go to the doctor for it...Okay! Please review and comment on the story and tell me what you think I could improve on! You guys are doing great so far! Keep it up! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

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Ch. 5: Lightened Tears

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

I walk with Link over to the house he smelled the insects in. There was no telling what these little twilight monsters looked like. Judging by Link's disgust towards them and everything else I've seen in this damned alternate world I'd say they'll be pretty repulsing. The house was closest to the spring so the walk did not take long. Doors and windows on the old structure were boarded up with wooden blanks and nails. People in the village must have been scared out of their minds when attackers invaded their little place of paradise. Because the place was covered up, no clear pathway was apparent to me. I feel myself wondering if there really is a possible way of getting in there; given the form we appear in. Blue eyes meet mine and the wolf throws his head upward.

"Midna will help us get up there. Just jump where she tells you too and you'll be fine. Don't worry about the height of the jump. I find it easier if you focus all of your strength in your hind legs. It takes some getting used to but I know you'll do just fine Scarlett. Now watch me and I'll make sure you get up here safely," Link told me. I listened to his words carefully and then looked back at the rounded stone building. My question came out naturally, "Wait so we're going to jump all the way up there. We can't just dig underneath the home?"

Link shook his head.

"Midna says the only way in there is through the roof so that's our only option. You're not scared are you?"

A smirk curled itself upon his canine face and I felt fake steam coming out of my ears. Me, scared? He honestly didn't know me as much as I want him to. The only exception would be spiders. He's totally on the mark when it comes to those creepy crawlers. The way their fangs hung out of their mouths and their eight hairy legs sprung out like floppy spears gave me chills every single night. Sometimes I would wake up and think there were spiders all over me. I would scream at the top of my lungs and my parents would run in with Mom carrying a pan and Daddy carrying his Hylian spear. After a few times of the same thing they just stopped coming...I didn't get mad about that because they needed to sleep. The only problem was that if I really was in trouble they would not come under false presumption.

"Scarlett? You coming?" Link asked me, his smirk going away for good. The redness in my furry face went away as I followed him to the edge of the building. Midna rose off the wolf's back and floated upwards towards the top of the building. Her hair tangled down her back in waves and for a second I thought I saw a band in the bright orange mane. I didn't know she pulled her hair up...

Atop of the tribal home, she turned and beckoned us to jump to her. Link had no problem jumping the, what seemed to be, eight to ten feet high residence. They both looked at me expectantly and my ears fell back in lack of confidence. How in the world was I supposed to jump that high? If I face-plant in the side of this house I'm gonna be pissed. I lowered myself in a crouched position and made my discouraging thoughts vanish as I tried to jump. Wind flew past me quickly in drones and soon I felt solid ground beneath me. Thank goodness. Link gazed at me like he was proud while Midna pointed at a pile of hay.

"Hey guys, try stepping on that pile of hay. I think the people here put it there to cover up a hole. How lazy of them~" She cooed.

True enough, when Link follows her words and placed his right paw on the strong-smelling straw he fell right through and barked in complete revelation. I stuck my head in the black hole and looked down at Link who had landed on his feet. Well if it's not that much of a drop then I guess it would be alright. Jumping down in the hole, I peered around for any of those insects Eldin was talking about. The room was empty and filled with a wild sense of silence. Lit torches scorched on the walls and there were a lot of native designs everywhere. I lowered my head to the ground and started to sniff. Canine senses hit my sight instantly and I saw a group of people sitting at a wall opposite from the door. One looked like an Indian of sorts, long black hair and all. The man's face was tensed with aging lines on his cheeks. His eyes were a dark brown and high cheekbones adorned his face. His brown skin made my hypothesis of his descent more like a confirmation as well as the way he was dressed. If he was of that race, that would be pretty unique. I read in my history books that the land of Hyrule used to quarter Indian tribes of all sorts. The main one I can think of on the spot is the Sheikah. I'm pretty sure they've gone extinct since a few decades ago.

Right beside the man, a girl sat next to him with a neutral outlook of her surroundings. Her hair was dark, like his, and cut short to the bottom of her chin. She looked to be about eleven or twelve. There were five more people in the circular room; four of them being kids. One boy was blonde while the other had brown hair. The two girls also had brown hair but unlike the man their skin was a smooth milk color. The only other man in the room looked weird and his balding head made him look kind of creepy. He was wearing spectacles and he had one of those masks you wear when you're welding something on. I heard Link gasp right next to me and I nudged him.

"What is it?"

"Those are the kids from my village! I'm so relieved! Phew, now I can stop worrying," He breathed out. He then jumped in place like he was a cat and stared at the wall.

"Scarlett."

"What?"

"You see that thing by the wall? That's what the twilight insects look like. Fucking disgusting aren't they?" He said to me with a snarl. I nodded when I saw the nasty thing. It looked like an ancient animal from the beginning of time. Its creepy legs were sprawled out in all directions and they moved simultaneously in forward arachnid motions. Did I really have to kill that thing? Insects have not always been my best friend or for girls in general. I thought about asking Link to kill it for me but I felt kind of selfish for thinking that. He really shouldn't be doing everything for me. Without a word, I dashed forward and started biting rapidly at the bug. It screeched an awful noise and jumped at me.

Holy. Crap. My life flashed before my eyes just then.

Luckily, not really, the bug accidently jumped inside my maw. A loud painful piercing cry sounded in my ears and a sickening taste filled my mouth. Oh how stomach-churning the blood of this insect was. I immediately spat the reddish blood out and whined. My tongue was not happy at all. Midna snickered at me as she hovered above Link and I. She seriously didn't have to laugh at me. The realization of what I just did was bad enough thank you. I looked down at the disfigured creature on the ground in front of me and it blew up into tiny little pieces. That seemed to happen with everything you killed around here...despite that, this one was different. Rays of white light shot out in an arc and met up in one place creating a small white ball. That was most likely one of the tears we had to collect.

"Now you know how 'wolfie' feels," Midna commented. Link watched her scoop up the tear in the tear vessel Eldin gave us and stare at the light like it was a piece of garbage on the street. When all of the tears were collected she couldn't be in her solid form anymore so she despised the little tears. Link then looked at me and if he could give me a thumbs up he would. Dogs don't have thumbs unfortunately.

"You did really good! It was gross wasn't it?" He inquired.

"Hell yeah it was! I'm sorry but do I have to keep doing this?" I complained. Screw being selfish! He smiled and scratched his ear with his paw, "Nah, I got you. I'm used to it by now so I'll kill the rest. There should be eight in all so there's only seven to go! Nope six because there's another one in the corner over there. Hold on," he said. He walked over to a dark corner of the room and I heard him growl menacingly before a loud screech was heard. I flinched and my ears went flat. There was no way I was ever going to get used to that sound. He came back with a tear and Midna cursed under her breath. She wasn't hiding the fact that she was trying to slow this process down as much as possible.

"Would you two slow down!? I hate being a shadow!"

"Excuse me Scarlett, did you ever hear me say I cared?" Link asked me with a serious face. I giggled and shook my head.

"No, I don't believe you did Link. I guess Midna will just have to deal with it," I played along. Midna threw her hands up in the air and cursed in her own native language. I have a slight suspicion that she called us bitches. And she would be right because I'm a female dog right now! So instead of getting mad about it I chose to continue my search for any other tear-holding bugs. However, There did not appear to be any more bugs in this room so it was time to move on.

The both of us moved out of the house in a weird and unusual way. For some reason, if you lit up the un-lit torches it created a secret entrance in the basement of the home and statues twirled and sounds were made, you get it. Whatever it was, a basement, a cellar, it was creepy. Dark dirty soil encased the walls on both sides. Roots stuck out from them and brushed our fur every now and then. Sound was devoid in this place. It reminded me of a catacomb tunnel; only there were no bones in here.

Good thing too!

Two more insects crawled in the long dark tunnel we were in. We, excuse me, Link killed them quickly and the tear vessel added up to four as of right now. Only four more to go I think.

The dark, creepy tunnel ironically led to the village graveyard. Great, of course it leads to a damn graveyard filled with the souls of the living dead and ghosts who take pleasure in ripping your guts apart. That's a stretch, I know, because I've read wayyyyy too many horror-themed books. It gave off a "ghost-town" vibe instead of a scary one; a stark contrast to what I thought it would be like. In likeness of the main part of the village, the wind blew softly here with dryness in the air. No vegetation grew here and any flowers that were laid on the tombs were dead or wilted away.

"There's another one over there." Link didn't even let me move before he killed the insect himself. He spit the guts out and collected the tear with a look of ease. I'm pretty sure he either found this fun or extremely easy. I'm glad someone does around here. If it were me, I'd still be wondering how to get in that damn house at the beginning. Like, I try to be helpful and look around but cannot sense anymore insects in the graveyard. I am starting to feel like a waste of Link's time by slowing him down. He's always having to wait for me to follow him or I'm always asking him stupid questions about what to do. You could say I resembled a lost puppy-just following him aimlessly until someone picks me up off the side of the road. My anxiety is kicking in again…

"Hey!"

I looked up and Link was at the very entrance of the graveyard about to leave.

"Everything okay?" He asked me. I walked over to him with my eyes glued to the ground. The nodding of my head made him stare at me suspiciously before Midna cut herself in between us."Only three more to go guys. If you're going to get them stop standing around. I like being in this form but I like getting what I need in those dungeons as well!" She told us whole-heartedly. She floated away from us down the path leading back to the village and I stayed close behind her. I felt Link's gaze on my back as I turned around the corner. Hopefully he'll drop it because I don't feel like talking right now.

Minutes go by as we sniff the ground and search for the other remaining insects. Nothing seems to make itself out to us. After searching a trash can, yes a trash can, I sat on my hind legs and sighed. Being a dog, it must've looked unusual when I did that.

"This is h-e-l-l, hell," I whispered, occasionally opening my mouth to let my tongue hang out. Link is doing it too and it feels good when the breeze brushes it to the side so no judging me! We're basically just dogs to everyone else so why not. Oh wait, nobody else can see us, I forgot.

"Hang in there Scarlett," Link said sympathetically with a nudge to my shoulder with his own dark furry one. I know he's tired of searching for these damn things and I also know that this bullshit is getting old for both of us. Meanwhile, Midna sat on the steps of one of the houses of the village with her face leaning on her palms and her elbows resting on her thighs. She obviously looked bored beyond belief. Was it really our faults that we couldn't find the other three tears? How about a big fat NO.

"Ughhhhhhhhh! This blows! You guys suck! Why can't you-" She stopped for a moment. Her right ear raised itself towards the door and a smile appeared on her face. She raised her small fingers at us and gestured for us to come over to her. Link and I did and she pointed at the house. "I can hear one or two in the house. They sound like they're playing around with each other. Have fun killing those two in the act." Oh jeez, she's so gross. I mentally threw up but went inside the house to get it over with, because frankly, I really want to be my Hylian self again.

The house was large in the height sense, not width. The walls were covered with random junk while sticks were laid out on the ground everywhere. It was pretty messy. I would describe the rest of the house but my eyes were stuck on the two insects that were...ahem... _playing_ in the corner! There's no way I'm killing them like that and I'm not gonna let Link kill them either! I turned to him and then glanced at the fireplace that was placed conveniently in the center of the home. I did not see anybody in the house so my next plan would be okay.

"Link grab a stick, go to the fireplace, and set the place on fire using the flame from it."

"Huh!? But-"

"Look! I am not even going to try killing those things while they're...Ugh...reproducing so we're gonna set the house on fire and kill them that way!" I yelled. His ears went flat and he furrowed his brows. "Are you sure that's the best option we have in this. I don't have a problem with killing them...Okay I do when they're doing that but still! What if we burn someone's house down?" He asked. I looked around and the place kind of looked abandoned even though crap was everywhere.

"I don't think anyone would care. This place looks like it was deserted years ago. There's dust everywhere and my allergies will start-" I sneezed. "...going crazy...And I'm not letting you get anywhere near those things in the act Link! You'll get contaminated and I can't have my partner all adulterated! So just do it! I'll be by the door when you do."

"But!"

I shot him a look and he closed his mouth. Again, he knows when to be quiet. He's such a smart guy! He obediently grabbed a stick with his mouth and stared at the wall. There were flammable bags of whatever on the wall because this used to be a bomb shop I think, and if fire got on them this place would go ka-boom! He looked back at me again and I nodded my head.

"Come on, just get it over with Link. Don't feel guilty about it."

He shrugged and threw the burning stick at the wall, making the whole side of the wall burst into flames. Midna opened the door and pushed us outside. She pushed too hard so Link landed on me on the ground. He quickly stood up and apologized but I didn't mind. It would have been a whole different story if we were human. We watched as the flames from inside transmitted to the outside and now the whole home was engulfed in flames. No one lived there and the twilight insects were doing it remember!? So don't think I'll be thinking about this forever because I won't. Heat radiated off the fire and sparks flew everywhere. I took a few steps back and waited until nothing was left. It was surprising to see the fire just go away when the home collapsed. The only thing left from the wreckage were three tears. Oh so there were three insects in there. Great! Then we're freaking done with this dumb tear collecting! I scooped them up this time and sprinted back to the spring. Hopping excitedly, I barked, "Change me back! Change me back!"

The spirit Eldin came up from the water in all his glowing glory and floated just above the clear running water. Link came seconds later with the vessel and presented it to him. Eldin was really happy now because his glow grew even stronger! Just like with Faron, the whole area destroyed the dark realm of twilight within it and light was restored to Kakariko Village. The houses and buildings reached their original shine and darkness was seen nowhere. I blinked and then felt taller for some reason. I looked down to see my familiar brown boots standing in the shallow water. I'm a person again! The feeling of actually standing on two legs is more dignifying than you could ever imagine! I was a bit wobbly though and I would have accidently fallen to the ground if it weren't for Link to keep me steady.

"Your legs feeling tingly too?" He asked with a smirk. But he was trying not to fall as well. I would say it was close to the feeling of your legs being asleep for a long time.

"Hell yeah they are! They feel like jelly!" I laughed, holding on to his arm.

Eldin rose up from the water in his own unique form, an eagle, as Link and I were still trying to regain our balance. His light reminded me of fireworks when he rose up and looked at us with solid white eyes. His wingspan stretched out a few yards since he was so massive in front of us.

 _ **"O great heroes chosen by the gods…"**_ He looked up over us as he spoke, _**"The dark power you seek lies in the sacred grounds of the Mountain dwellers beyond. But those grounds have been covered in a thick blanket of darkness already…"**_

We turned around to look at the mountain. I didn't even know that was there! It was like a volcano, large and hot-looking. One side of it was bright red while the other was a solid black. The red looked to be lava, but we were so far away from the mountain that it was hard to make out any one detail of it. We turned back to Eldin and he continued, _**"...You two must go to those sacred grounds and destroy that darkness."**_ He said strongly and boldly. He then closed his wings and flew back in the water, making the water splash all over us. I sighed with an annoyed tone and started to brush the water out of my hair while the blonde boy beside me laughed and shook his hair like a dog would. I was glad he didn't drag on his words like the last spirit but he could've gave us a warning before getting us wet!

"You're not a dog anymore Link." I let go of my hair and let it fall to my back with a slight dampness to it. His cheeks went rosy as he smiled and cracked his back with his arms over his head.

"Yeah but we probably will have to turn into one again sometime or later. Plus, guys are a little dog-like if you think about it...I didn't know you hated being a wolf so much Scarlett." He gasped after what he just said. "Are you an animal hater!?" He asked with an over-dramatic expression.

"Of course not! I love animals! I just don't like killing insects with my mouth. That's disgusting! I might throw up just thinking about it!" I gagged. He snorted and gave me a wink. "Well if you do I'll hold your hair back for you."

"You're not helping," I muttered with a deep breath. I looked over to the first house we entered while on our little "tear hunt" and saw the front door open slowly. Four small faces poked their heads in the crack of the door and they scanned the area outside with caution. Sensing nothing they opened the door completely and stepped out into the open. The first kid out was the blonde one. He was cute; looked like Link a little bit. He rotated his child-like head over to us and his blue eyes widened with surprise. Link smiled widely at the sight of that look.

"Link! You're-"

The other kids saw Link and ran out of the house, knocking the blonde boy to the ground roughly. How rude! While the three other kids ran up to Link and asked him all kinds of dumb questions about where he was or what he's been doing I went over to the fallen boy and helped him up. He gave me a teary-eyed smile.

"T-Thank you ma'am…" He stuttered quietly. Can I change my description of him to adorable now? He was so polite for his age and he seemed sensitive; something every guy should have in their personality. I could tell he was the outsider of the group of kids. They probably bullied him. I knelt down to his level and nodded with a warm smile.

"Of course! What's your name?"

"C-Colin," He answered.

"Colin? That's a cool name! My name's Scarlett."

"That's pretty…"

I giggled and turned back to Link. He was smiling and laughing with the other kids. I felt a tug on my arm and I looked back at Colin.

"Hmm?"

"Are you with Link?"

I nodded. He twiddled his thumbs.

"And are you guys okay? How did you two team up together? I'm glad you found us," He said, looking into my eyes. I told him it would be better if Link answered his questions instead so I grabbed his hand and took him over to the boy in green. Link stopped interacting with the other kids and put his full attention on Colin.

"Hey bud, how you doin'?" Link asked with a mentor's attitude. I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head. Never heard Link act like that before. He sounded almost like a teacher. Colin's face lit up and he gave Link a hug.

"I knew you would come to get us! You don't even know what we had to go through to get here!"

Link chuckled.

"Likewise haha…" He rubbed the back of his head, glancing at me knowingly.

"So you are the one the kids told me about?" Someone spoke from behind us. It was that man that looked like he was from a tribe earlier. I stepped back a few steps and stood beside Link.

"I am Renado, shaman of this town. This is my daughter, Luda. I took these children in when the beasts brought them here. Apparently they thought they could just leave them at the gate while they looted the village. They are dangerous but they lack the brainpower to do anything worth mentioning. Although, they did manage to bring these children from Ordon all the way here," He said. Colin nodded along with him and told us that the whole experience had been one big nightmare. The shaman also told us that the so-called "Mountain dwellers" have recently decided not to protect them from invaders anymore even though the village has been friends with them for a long time. What's that all about? Eldin did say something about darkness spreading through their supposed sacred grounds.

"In any case, it would be best if you took the children back to your village before something else bad happens. There's no telling with the new dangers that roam Hyrule field. But for now, please rest up. I know you and your friend here have traveled a long way just to get here. Feel free to ask me any questions if you have them. If you have obtained any injuries, the spring will suffice for the healing process. I hope you do not need it in the time coming."

Renado closed his dark eyes and turned his back to us. He rounded up all the kids and took them in the house for their last little snack before they leave.

"I feel like I can breathe now knowing that they are safe with someone like him. Taking them back to Ordon Village could be a real hassle though. Do you think I could ask him to postpone their leaving to another day?" He asked me. I honestly had no clue so I said, "I don't know…"

He sighed and looked at the mountain.

"Well I'm sure everything will be okay. They always are."

He gave me a smile and I couldn't help but smile back. He came over to give me something but something made us both fall to the ground in the amount of force it gave off. He and I grunted and looked up at a beautiful horse that was blocking our sun. It was freaking out like no tomorrow! Snorts and whines were heard from the female horse during the process of her stomping her hooves in the ground. By the look of the mane, it had to be a clydesdale horse. She was so beautiful. Her white hair went along with her reddened fur perfectly! The only thing not beautiful about her was her damn attitude! What the hell was her problem!? Link gasped next to me and sat up.

"That's my horse."

"What?"

"That's my fucking horse!" He yelled happily! He stood up and ran to her but she freaked out and ran away from him. He ran after her and started screaming excessively.

"Epona! Get your ass back here! Where have you been!? Holy crap!"

I watched him jump on her and try to restrain her but she just ran faster! He grabbed her neck and his legs flew back like a piece of paper in the wind. It was funny to watch hehe. Just seeing Link curse and hang on for his life made me forget about those bugs we had to kill. Though, it just seemed like there was a new challenge at every turn; Link's horse being the next one. I think I should help him now because he just fell off her and rolled in the dry ground. Oh gods, I hope he's not bleeding! I stood up and ran after the horse while Link struggled to get up.

"Link's horse! You better mind!"

"Neigh!" She uhh...neighed at me. I tried jumping on her but I missed and fell on my butt. Link was still on the ground a few feet away from me holding his arm so it was up to me to get this horse under control. I just had to find a way to do that without getting hurt!

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 **And that is the end of the story! The next chapter will start with Link's POV. I was in a major writer's block for this chapter and I'm gonna blame school again because I've been focused on finals way to much! But I'm done with school and it was my birthday a few days ago! I just turned 18! And now I'm free for the summer! Finally! I might even get another loz chapter by the end of the week! That would be awesome! Anyway please review or comment on the story guys! I live for your feedback! Finally, thanks so much for the support so far and I will see you next time!**


	6. Chapter 6: Getting Through

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! You guys are doing awesome because the story is about to hit 1,000 views which is good for the start of the story. Like I have said in the past, the story will have more of Link's point of view so this chapter will begin with him. Hopefully I can finish this chapter today so you guys won't be mad at me! Please review or comment on the story because that's why we authors do this! Don't be lazy! It literally takes a minute to write anything haha. It also, I guess, gives your account name some attention if you see it at the beginning of a chapter in the responses so yeah. Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

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Ch. 6: Getting Through

 **(Link's POV)**

Oh shit, my arm is bleeding pretty bad. Dust and dirt mixed in with the blood making it a dark reddish color. The substance dripped from my right arm slowly and it felt like a knife had cut through it. I tightened my fist in pain just at the feeling of it. I feel more ashamed that I lost my grip when jumping on Epona. Why in the world did I freaking let go!? I looked up from my bleeding limb to see Scarlett running after my horse. Her blonde hair swung behind her as she sprinted and trapped Epona in a corner. My eyes widened when she raised her hooves and started kicking through the open air.

"Wait Scarlett! Back away from her!" I yelled in worry as I got up, still holding my hurt arm. She looked at me with skepticism.

"Why? I got her cornered!" She said back to me as she raised her gloved hands to calm the horse down. Epona didn't do what she wanted at all. She stomped her hooves in the dirt under her and charged at Scarlett. Luckily, she got out of the way just in time before she got stampeded to death. The bad thing about it was Epona was coming right at me now! I dashed to the side and attempted to jump on her again. When she was close enough I swung my right hand over her and grabbed on to her neck, hugging it for my life. She tried to swing me off of her by running even faster which really made me want to throw up from the motion sickness and vertigo I was feeling in my stomach right now. Scarlett would think I was disgusting if I did that! Wait, I can't worry about that now! I need to focus on my damn crazy ass horse! I tilted my head to search for the reins on her saddle and once I saw them swaying side to side I went to grab them quickly. Whether it was a miracle or not, I barely managed to grab them and pull on them as hard as I could with a grunt escaping my chapped lips. My whole body felt as if it was going to disconnect from my two arms completely. My feet flew out from under me and I had to give everything I had to regain my balance and dig them in the ground.

"Whoa, I think that did the trick!" Scarlett said thankfully with her hand to her heart. And she was right. Epona finally stopped her erratic behavior and calmed down significantly. I sighed in relief and laid my head on her mane. I lifted my hand to pet her head and she didn't try to stop me. My blonde-haired partner came up to me and started to pet the pretty horse as well. She then looked at me in concern and traced her light fingers along the wound on my arm.

"Hey we need to get that cleaned in the spring before it gets infected. So come on." She took my arm and I hopped off Epona, landing on the balls of my feet.

"...Your horse is beautiful by the way," she said to me as we walked over to Eldin's Spring. I gave her a smile and nodded my head. "Yeah, she's always been complimented for her breed and looks. What I want to know is why she was acting like that. She hurt my arm pretty bad…" I trailed off in thought. The girl next to me looked at my cut sadly as she took it gently and hovered it over the clear water of the spring.

"I don't know why. It was probably those bandits that took the kids. I bet they tried to take her as well. Hold on Link, this might sting a little bit."

She lowered my arm in the water, and I swear to Faron and Eldin and whoever the fucking other spirits are, that stung like an army of wasps just suddenly stuck all of their stingers in my arm and stayed there just to be little assholes! I didn't cry out because I wanted to keep my manly status in the presence of a girl, but I did let out a pained breath. Scarlett rubbed my arm up and down as the water turned solid red for a second. However, being the spirit spring, my blood soon disappeared and the water captured it's original state again.

"It's okay, it's almost over," Scarlett spoke softly to me. She continued to stare at my arm while I was looking at her. We might have met only a couple of days ago but she was treating me like her best friend right now. I felt myself smile and before I knew it the pain in my arm was gone completely. The cut even closed up and everything!

"Ahh, that feels a lot better! Good thing we have this spring huh?" I exclaimed delightedly. She hummed and nodded. "Sure is. It's good to know we'll be okay in the future."

I shifted on my feet when I stood up and tightened the gauntlets around my forearms. I really felt the need to thank Scarlett for caring and helping me through that.

"Um...Thanks a lot for helping me with Epona and my wound…" I said quietly with a smile. She returned it and gave me a weird look. "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

Oh crap, didn't expect that response. I laughed it off.

"No no! I'm just saying! Haha!"

Okay that must've sounded really weird. Now I feel like a huge dork...She gave a small chortle and walked over to Epona. I lowered my head and sighed.

"Why do I make everything awkward?" I whispered to myself. Meeting up with her and my horse, she rubbed Epona's mane and gave a short pat.

"Did you know that ever since I was a little girl I've wanted a horse?" She asked me with a nostalgic expression.

I shook my head.

"...Hehe well it's funny because back then I didn't even know what a horse was. I thought they were like flying Pegasuses or something ridiculous like that. The first time _I did see one_ was when my father was assigned a horse for being a Hylian guard for five years. It's like an honorary thing in Castle Town."

"Oh, I didn't know your Dad was a Hylian knight. That's so cool! Is he a gatekeeper or does he protect the princess directly?" I asked in interest as I also started to pet the fine horse in front of me. Her brilliant eyes lit up proudly. "He's both actually! Yep, he's one of the best! He prefers to guard the princess though. He's never told me why but I think it's because the princess is supposed to be this ultra pretty girl. There are rumors that go around saying that she's perfect in every aspect; looks, skills, smarts, et cetera. All of the guys dream about her and all the girls are jealous about her even though they haven't seen her; or at least the majority of them haven't. I don't really care about it though. There's no sense in being jealous of some other girl. You should be proud of your own body and mind. I just need to work on the 'being proud of myself' part…"

She said the last part so quietly that I could not hear her.

"What did you say? I didn't hear the last thing you said."

She darted her eyes at me and then at Epona's big brown eyes.

"It wasn't important. So uhh...what does your dad do for a living? I didn't see him at your house," she mentioned. Of course she didn't know that I didn't even know my parents. I smiled at my brown boots and shrugged my broad shoulders.

"Actually, I've never met my Dad or my Mom. I mean one of the guys in my village took care of me as a kid but he did tell me once that my Mom raised me until I was three and then it was like...she just disappeared...Sometimes I feel like I can remember her but the memory is always faint. My dad? I don't know."

Scarlett stopped petting Epona and gasped soundlessly. She laid her hand on my upper arm in solicitude. She started to apologize but I stopped her.

"Nah don't say you're sorry. You didn't know. And besides, I don't feel sad about it. I did not know them personally so it doesn't matter. I've always been better on my own," I said with a uncaring tone. Her mouth parted slightly and she shook her head. She suddenly gave me a hug and I froze in place like a statue.

"Link, don't have that mindset. You can't get through life all alone. You always need a friend to help you along the way. And guess what! I'm that friend so you don't have to worry!"

She sure sounded determined. She let go of me and I chuckled boyishly.

"Haha thanks Scarlett."

She nodded and made a sound that sounded like a "Mmmhmm". That was before a very obnoxious call made the both of us turn around and look at the entrance of the village. What we saw would haunt my dreams for the next month or two, and that's if I never see it again. It was a tall slender man with a tall cylinder-shaped hat. His uniform shirt had no sleeves, showing his unmuscular arms. It was also too small on him so his belly stuck out even though he wasn't fat. But that wasn't even the worst part...It was his shorts! Great Hylia help me, the shorts! Why!? They were shorter than any shorts I have ever seen, revealing his...ugh...veiny thighs. I just gagged while Scarlett screamed and jumped behind me.

"Hey! Link and Scarlett right!?"

How does he know our names!?

"...I'm Hyrule's most efficient postman! I've been delivering letters ever since I was a little boy! These are actually the same shorts I wore those fifteen years ago! Anyway, I have a letter for you too!" He screamed loudly. My pointed ears took in the sound painfully and I frowned while I felt Scarlett lift her hands to cover hers. He stuffed his hands in his little satchel and took out the letter with random sparkles shooting out in all directions around him. This was already creepy enough so those things made me take a step back defensively.

"Da da da da da!" He sang while holding out the letter to me. I hesitantly took the letter from his hands and Scarlett whispered into my back, "Is he gone yet?" I shook my back to tell her he was still here and she let out a small whimper. Wow, she really didn't like this guy for some reason. I looked at him again and he saluted me.

"I'll be back when you get your next letter! Until then, bye!"

He turned and ran out with loud gasps of air puffing from his mouth. What. The. Hell.

"Alright, he's gone. You can come out now," I reassured her calmly. She put her hands on my shoulder and looked over them to confirm what I just said. Okay I just had to ask her why she was so afraid of that postman.

"Why did you hide when that weird post guy came? Are you _afraid_ of him?" I asked with a smirk on my tanned face. Her face went red for a second. "No! It's just he's a creeper! He comes by my house every single day to give us mail and he's...I can't describe it...all the girls in my neighborhood are creeped out by him. Okay I don't want to talk about that guy anymore." She started to walk out of the village but stopped when she realized something.

"Wait a minute...what do we have to do again?"

Damn, I don't remember either. I think that whole fiasco with Epona just made us all forget what we were supposed to do next. Unless of course nobody told us what to do in the first place. Midna's shape appeared in my shadow and she rose up from it.

" _Did you guys forget already? We're supposed to go into the Gorons' sacred ground or whatever. But first, I did see one of those howling stones that guy in the armor told you guys about. The one who gives you the legendary skills? Yeah there's one in the graveyard I think. Why don't you go there first."_

Alright if you say so. Scarlett and I walked past the round building where Renado and his daughter lived. We entered the graveyard and sure enough there was a howling stone at the very end of it. When we got close to it, we heard a soft wind-like noise as if someone was blowing through the hole of the stone. I looked at Scarlett and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know what to do?"

She didn't know but she tried to think about it.

"Well remember what he said. Something about seek the sound of the howling stone? Then we can get another lesson from him? So...how do we seek it? Wait a minute, that wind sound is in a pattern so maybe we're supposed to howl the pattern!" She crossed her arms and smiled at herself for being so smart. And she was, she's the smartest girl I've ever met. Sorry Ilia but you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Midna, who was listening to us, looked at us unusually and raised her arms in protest.

" _But you're not wolves! How are you supposed to howl!?"_

Scarlett stopped congratulating herself.

"Oh shit, you're right. No matter! The tune is dum dum dum, dum dum dum. So…." She typed her fingers in the air like a piano. She then opened her mouth and sung the tune in perfect pitch. Her voice was so angelic, so smooth. I sighed as my ears were filled with her natural singing voice. When she stopped I found myself acting like a kid who didn't get his way, "Why'd you stop!?" I asked her in a panicky tone. Scarlett flipped her long blonde hair behind her shoulder and pointed at the stone. "I'm pretty sure this is the way to do it if we're human but you need to do it with me."

My cheeks burned red in embarrassment. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.

"What? What's the matter?"

"I...I can't sing…" I muttered, looking away from her. She had the same look for a moment before laughing.

"What!? Give me a break! I heard you whistle that beautiful tune in the horsegrass earlier so I know you can sing! Don't be shy Link! You know, girls dig guys who can sing!"

"But I can't sing!" I repeated. This time my whole face was the color of a health potion. Once again, Scarlett waved me off and didn't believe me. "Nonsense! Come on! Start with me; one, two, three…" She started to sing once more and I sang with her this time. My deep voice came out scratchy and rough, almost like I was a dying animal. Hey, it's not my fault! I've never had lessons or anything! But for some reason, the girl next to me didn't mind my bad singing voice. Midna on the other hand wasn't too forgiving. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her covering her ears with her eyes closed shut. Was I really that bad!?

Nonetheless, the stone began to glow brightly with the rhythm of our two teenage voices before Midna gasped.

" _Oh my gosh! There's a golden wolf symbol on our map! And it's all the way back in Faron woods! What a fucking out-of-the-way shitshow! Damn it, we're going to have to go back there if you want to survive apparently. Why doesn't he just appear where the damn stone is!? You two better hurry 'cuz we need to get that second piece of mine!"_ She screamed at us angrily in the most annoyed mood I've ever seen her. I stopped singing and so did Scarlett next to me.

She didn't seem at all phased by my horrendous singing. Hmm, maybe her awesome voice overpowered mine and she didn't hear me...Thank the Goddess Hylia for that…And is Midna still fucking screaming at us!?

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Okay when he said he couldn't sing, he was right. Link wasn't...horrible...but he definitely wasn't good. At all. But...he looked like he was trying so hard when he _was_ singing. His eyes were closed and his cheeks were bright red with effort so he was trying. He wasn't hopeless so maybe while we're on this journey I can help him sing better! That would be fun because he has potential! The cute thing about it was when we were done and I looked at him, his face showed so much relieve and thoughtfulness when he looked back at me; probably because he was glad that I wasn't teasing him about it.

Guys and their pride…

" _...'cuz we need to get that second piece of mine!"_ Midna yelled. Had she been talking this whole time? Heh, didn't even realize it. Link glared at her for her constant nagging before he just finally gave up.

"Okay, look! We don't have to go there right now! The skills are just for our journey so when we have a reason to go back there we'll go back there. For now, Scarlett and I will go up to the mountain and see what's up with the Gorons. I would really appreciate it if you stopped telling us what we already know Midna!" He shouted. The short twilight girl and I had our eyes widened at his sudden outburst and when he turned his attention to me I flinched. His glaring frown turned into a bright smile as he waved his hand to the exit.

"You coming Scarlett?"

"O-Oh Right! Sorry!"

I hurriedly followed after him while Midna stayed close to me.

" _Sheesh, what the hell was that?"_ She whispered in my ear. I felt bad for her but I knew why he got mad at her. "I think you annoy him," I replied innocently. She scowled at me and smacked the side of my head.

"Hey!"

" _That's what you get for being a smartass,"_ She said with a grin. Link, who was in front of us, turned around and his blue eyes got intense at the twilight imp close to me.

"Midna! Stop messing with Scarlett! She doesn't want to talk to you!" He fumed.

He then turned back around and headed up the hill towards the ginormous mountain. She crossed her arms and pouted, " _Damn, he's really pissed at me for some reason. I'm gonna stay in your shadow for now on, kay?"_ She disappeared after I told her I didn't mind if she did that. Honestly I think Link just hated her haha. But that's what happens when you constantly nag someone to death. It's gets old after a couple of days.

Moving on, the air around me got a touch warmer than what it was like in the village. As if it weren't already hot enough. Barriers of rocks narrowed the path on both sides and ended in a netted wall. It wasn't big or anything. All we had to do was climb up and go on from there. I walked up to the net wall and clutched my fingers around the rough tight roping. Link wiped the dirty blonde hair out of his eyes and told me to hold on.

"I just want to make sure there are no monsters up there. I'll be back in a sec."

He climbed the wall and I heard some shuffling around but no monster's call or threatening screech. It was even silent for a good ten seconds. I got suspicious of this so I left the net and backed up to see if I could see Link up there.

What I couldn't hear was the rumbling from the higher ground. If I had known, I would've gotten out of the way because Link was soon falling down the wall in my direction. Girlishly screaming I, being the dumbass that I was, thought I could actually catch a eighteen-year-old guy who was muscular and taller than me by almost two inches as I reached my arms out to catch him. There's no telling what the weight difference was either. He wailed while in the air and I got him.

I did okay for the first two seconds but when all of his weight fell on me I screamed in panic again and fell backwards. Link gasped and grabbed the back of my head before I could hit it on the hard ground so I was fine. Though, the position we were in made us both blush since his whole body was on top of mine and his strong sturdy hands were around my soft face. He leapt off of me in an instant while I laid there in a daze.

"Scarlett! I...It…" He stuttered while I stared at him, my face flushed. He quickly tried to make us both forget what just happened by pointing at the top of the netted wall and screaming as loud as he could.

"Hey you jerk! You can't just roll into me and knock me off a ledge! Who do you think you are!?"

A large orange face with big lips and purple eyes popped its head over the ledge. So this was a Goron? His face was rough and rock-like. It fit the environment nicely so no wonder they lived in a mountain. He pointed a huge finger at us and even started throwing small rocks at us! What an asshole!

"Who do you think YOU are for coming into our sacred grounds uninvited!? Get the hell away from here unless you want to get your puny ass shoved off the ledge again! Come back stronger if you want to get through me!" He yelled before walking away out of sight. Link huffed through his nose and wiped the dust off his clothed shoulders.

"Sorry for falling on top of you...Are you hurt?"

I blinked and looked down at my body to check for any bruises or scratches. Sometimes adrenaline makes you forget that you're seriously injured! Other than making a complete fool of myself, I was alright.

"Yeah I'm okay. I didn't even hear you or that guy until I saw you falling towards me! What happened?"

"Well I went up there and he started threatening me so I kinda sorta got mad at him and then he formed himself in a ball and knocked me off the cliff," He laughed while thinking about it. I smiled and shook my head.

"Of course you would do something like that Link. So if we can't get up there what do you think we should do?" I asked, hoping he knew the answer. He thought for a minute and suggested talking to Renado about it. That sounded like a good plan. He seemed to know a lot about the village and since the mountain was close he should know _something_ about how to get up there. The two of us traveled all the way back to the shaman's home and knocked on the door. He came to it immediately and offered to let us in but we declined politely.

"Renado do you know how to get into the Gorons' mountain? We-" Link explained everything that happened and the dark-skinned man nodded in understanding. That was a good sign right?

"The Gorons believe strongly in their own natural strength. Their whole belief system is based upon that one skill and characteristic. Throughout my travels up the mountain I have witnessed their sacred ritual which involves a type of sumo wrestling. It is unusual, I know. Only the Gorons practice this sport on a daily basis. They see it as both a test of honor and a fun activity. If it is your strength they want, you won't get it by _you_ yourself. You will need something extra," he informed us in his powerful speaking voice.

Link and I looked at each other in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"There is one man I know that has been able to get into their home effectively. It was years ago but I'm sure he is still alive. He's actually from your village of Ordon Link. His name is Bo."

Link's eyes lit up and he smiled.

"Whoa! No way! He's the mayor of the village! So you think he would know the secret of getting in?"

Renado nodded with certainty lining his face.

With that info we headed out of the village with Link leading Epona by the reins. Once we made it in Hyrule Field, he looked at her and scratched behind her ears. She rubbed her snout against his cheek and he chuckled, pulling away from her affection. They looked adorable together. Link looked at me and grinned.

"You ready to go? We're gonna ride good ol' Epona back to Ordon. She'll cut the travel time by a humongous margin!" He declared with his arms open and out. I've never rode on a horse before but I've always wanted to. Dad never let me ride his because he was afraid I would fall off. Pshh! I'm not gonna fall off...

"Hell yeah I'm ready!"

I jumped up and swung my leg over the horse to sit on her saddle. I was practically jumping in my seat at the excitement I was feeling. Link jumped up next and got in front of me. He took a hold of Epona's reins and glanced behind his shoulder.

"You might want to hold on to me. Epona goes pretty fast and I don't want you to fall off," he said.

"So...do you want me to hold on to your waist or something?" I asked. He blushed and stopped looking at me.

"No! I...was just saying that you should hold on to something while we ride...That's all…"

I smirked and wrapped my arms around his abdomen. He silently gasped and I rolled my eyes. "I knew what you meant Link now let's go! This is gonna be awesome!" I yelled. He smiled and snapped the reins up and down.

"Hyaa!"

My hair flew back like a lightning bolt as wind blew past my face at an exponential speed. The dry wind made my eyes water and the tears flew back with it every few minutes. This was great! THIS WAS THE SHIT! I started to cheer and laugh and Link couldn't help but laugh right along with me as we sped through Hyrule field. Monsters passed us by in drones and some even tried to attack us, but they ended up getting blasted off their feet by Epona's powerful stride. I leaned my face in Link's back and smiled to myself. This was the most fun I've ever had. Castle Town was cool but there wasn't anything to do there anymore. After seventeen years, everything becomes stale even though the town is filled with games and festivals. None of that compared to the wide open freeness you get out here.

I made a mental list of everything that had happened so far as we rode in the direction of Faron woods.

 **Pros - Met Link who is cool, awesome, strong, brave, and possibly my best friend now. I get to travel to new lands. I get to learn special ancient techniques from a golden wolf/skeletal soldier. I have a sexy outfit on that the past heroine wore. And...I finally got to ride a horse!**

 **Cons - My parents are probably worried sick about me (Can fix later). I don't like it if me and Link get hurt. And...Midna's kind of annoying I guess. (She'll grow on me).**

So there are more pros than cons! Sweet!

"Hey Scarlett!? Are you awake!?" Link asked me over the loudness of the wind. I lifted my head off his back and told him that I was just thinking about stuff. He glanced at me again and smiled youthfully.

"Oh yeah? Whatcha thinkin' about?"

"Just random stuff hehe. How long have we been riding for? Are we almost there?"

He nodded his head and moved his shoulder around. They must've gotten stiff.

"We've been riding for about twenty minutes and yeah we're about to enter Faron woods. While we're here we should try to find your golden wolf friend. It would be nice if we learned a second skill before going into our second dungeon or whatever the heck we should call it. A volcano? Nah...I'll stick with 'dungeon'."

Did he always get off topic? It sure seemed like it. Anyhow, we entered Faron's land and soon enough found my golden friend right next to the royal spring. I wonder if he just sits there and waits for us in his wolf form. And I also think it's weird that he's a skeletal soldier as well. I'm gonna ask him about that this time.

When we walked up to him and hopped off of Epona, his golden eyes darkened and we found ourselves in the "light world" like before. And there stood the familiar soldier with his sword and shield and red glowing eyes.

" _It is good to see you two again. Now please tell me the last technique you learned."_

Link and I said it at the same time.

"The Ending Blow."

" _Good. I'm glad you two have remembered the first skill I taught you. I would ask you to demonstrate it but I do not find it beneficial to have a sword stuck in me again. I may be dead young Heroes but it doesn't feel too good. Now, I will teach you the next legendary skill known as the '_ _ **Shield Bash'**_ _. This hidden skill is a simple one yet very successful in its usage. Simply target your enemy and once they get close enough you swing your shield and smash it against them to stun them temporarily. You must then use this opportunity to destroy your enemy with your sword. Understood? Show me young Hero and Heroine,"_ he told us in his formal-styled voice. So we did! Like he said, it was super easy. Link and I both pushed our shields at him and then slashed our swords at his bony body. He flew a few feet away from us and then stood up slowly.

" _Nicely done! You both have learned the 'Shield Bash'! Now go on young Heroes. Continue on with your heroic journey and use the hidden skills you have acquired so far. When you discover another howling stone seek me again in the same way you did before. Though, I would work on the young Hero's voice first chosen Heroine."_

Haha, oh my gosh...You should've saw Link's face. His jaw fell open in complete shock while the skeletal soldier seemed to smile behind that neutral expression of his. I laughed holding my stomach and Link nudged me to stop.

"Hehe sorry Link, that was too good. Before we go golden wolf I have some questions to ask you," I said as my laughs died down. The soldier hummed in thought before nodding in acceptance. " _I will answer anything within the bounds of my knowledge young Heroine."_

"Alright cool! First question, do you have an actual name we can call you instead of 'golden wolf'?"

I thought I saw his eyes widen but it must have been my imagination.

" _You can call me...Shade...for now young Heroine."_

"Okay why do you keep calling us that every other sentence? 'Young hero or heroine'."

What? It got repetitive.

" _I prefer to address you by your formal title instead of your name. That is all,"_ He said calmly. I nodded and thought of some more questions.

"Alright alright, why is it that you have a wolf form like us before turning into a skeletal soldier?"

He paused this time before answering.

" _It is not my place to explain everything to you at once young Heroine."_

Oh for the love of! Here we go again.

"Okay then why do you keep saying that when you don't want to answer something? Is that your go-to phrase when you don't know the answer to a question!?"

" _It is not my place to explain everything to you at once young Heroine."_

Okay…This isn't going anywhere.

I narrowed my emerald eyes at him and he stared at me. Knowing him, he was just waiting to say his favorite sentence again. I can't think of any more questions now but I know I can get more information from him the next time we meet again.

"Okay this is the last question and then I'll stop and we'll be on our way. And you have to answer this one! Is this skeletal body of yours your true form?" I asked him in interest. There was another moment of silence from him. All of this was happening while Link was still recovering from Shade saying that he couldn't sing very good. Oooh that's so weird to say. Shhhhhhaaaaddddeeeee….but it has a nice ring to it; better than golden wolf.

"No, it is not," he said simply. I nodded with a growing smile and bowed my head.

"Thank you for answering my questions Shade. But just know that I will have more the next time."

He hmphed and bowed in return.

"I will be expecting your questions then young Heroine." He then turned to Link. "Do you have any questions of your own young Hero?"

Link looked up and frowned.

"Do I really sing that badly?" He asked.

" _It is not my place to explain everything to you at once,"_ Shade replied smartly. I started to have another laughing fit before Link groaned and took my arm.

"Come on we're leaving. Thank you Shade! See ya next time!" He yelled before we just walked away. After three steps the normal world came back around us and the sound of running spring water filled our ears. I curled my lips and bit them to keep from laughing but I couldn't stop it from coming. Link glared at me and flicked my forehead with his finger.

"Ow! What was that for!?" I yelled, my hands coming up to my face.

"You know what it was for! Now come on! We gotta find the mayor!"

I decided to let it go for now. I can get him back while he's sleeping. It's a cheap shot but I don't give a shit. You know Midna's been awfully quiet ever since she switched over to my shadow. She must be butt hurt about Link getting mad at her. Poor girl. I'll talk to her later tonight.

"This is his house," Link told me when we walked up to it. My day dreaming kept me from realizing that we had made it to the village and walked through it.

"...We haven't found Ilia yet so I don't think it would be smart if we brought it up. Ilia's his daughter," Link told me. I got in a teasing mood quickly. "Oh man, you were gonna get with the mayor's daughter? Damn Link you're a savage."

"Shut it you! It wasn't like that! We're going in!" He screamed, his cheeks red. I followed the blonde boy inside even though he didn't knock before entering which was a little weird. Was that a countryside thing? Screw it, a man looked at us with slightly widened eyes but he smiled when he recognized Link.

"Link my boy! It's good to see you son! I heard that you were looking for the children and my dear daughter. So any luck? Please tell me you have! Anything would be helpful!" He admitted desperately. Link looked at me briefly. "I haven't found them yet but I know I'm close. We have found the enemy base and I saw a man-made dungeon there so they're probably in there. However, they are next to the large mountain to the east and I need to get past the Gorons to reach them. Renado in Kakariko Village told me that you knew the secret to getting past them?"

Mayor Bo nodded with extreme confidence.

"Of course I do! Those Gorons never saw me coming when I strolled up to their mines all those years ago! Haha! And that's actually good news that you think you might've found the children. Like I said, anything is helpful right now. You know the whole village is depressed right now...But enough of that! We need to hurry! Follow me to my training room!"

The large man led us to the back of his house to a room with a giant ring in it. There were weapons to the side on a rack and gloves laying on a cabinet in the left-hand corner. Yep, this was definitely a wrestling room. The mayor took a deep breath and exhaled with pride. He turned to us and gazed at me.

"I'm sorry that I haven't formally introduced myself to you. I've been meaning to talk to Link about my little girl for days now! I'm Bo, the official mayor of Ordon Village. And you are?" He asked as he shook my delicate hand. "Scarlett sir. I'm accompanying Link right now so you can count on us to find everyone's child safe and sound."

I hated to lie…

"That's great to know. I'm glad Link has a partner to back him up in case he ever got into an intense battle. However, looking at your form I do not think you are fit to take on the Gorons. You're too light. No matter. Link can do it for you!" He said as if he was doing me a favor. I shrugged and Link looked at me with disappointment in his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just don't want you to feel like you're not helping at all because you are," He said truthfully. My heart skipped a beat when he said that and I laughed it off. "Oh please! I didn't want to wrestle those Goron's anyway! That's a guy's job. But thank you for thinking about me Link. That's very kind and sweet of you."

"Of course!" He grinned with his eyes clothed and I did as well.

"Okay Link let's get started!"

We looked across the room to see...Mayor Bo half naked on the training circle!? What in the Holy Faron was this atrocious nightmare that has appeared before us!?

"Son, you're gonna need to take off your shirt too so you'll have less weight on your shoulders."

"Uhh...Yes sir…" Link answered shyly. He turned to me with pleading eyes and I rolled mine. "Yes, I'll hold your stuff for you."

He thanked me and took off his green hat, showing off the shiny styled hair on his head that almost made me jealous. He handed me the hat before crossing his arms at his waist and lifting up his shirt. He handed me his tunic and I blushed instantly when I saw his bare chest. For his young age (even though he was older than me), he had strong-looking biceps and a manly six pack that adorned his torso. His pectorals were also developed VERY well if I do say so myself. His skin was a slight tan color, but it still held its overall peach color. Before I knew it, two words slipped out from my pink lips.

"Oh shit…"

* * *

 **And that is the end of the story! Haha I can't take the end of this chapter seriously! I hope you guys liked it and the entire chapter as a whole. There were a few minor instances where I had writer's block but I think it went okay. Please review and comment on the story and tell me what you think! It's takes only a minute so do it! I also want to think everyone who wished me Happy Birthday. You guys are awesome! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	7. Chapter 7: Assessment

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! Alright I'm in Sweden right now and nobody has stupid freaking internet so this chapter is going to come kind of late so my bad! But the trips have been pretty nice, my favorite part was Helsinki, Finland. I don't know why it was just really nice there and the apartment buildings looked pretty cool so kudos to my Finnish readers! As for The Legend of Zelda, they finally revealed the name of the new game,** _ **The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild!**_ **It looks freaking awesome but I still want Link to be in his green uniform instead of just clothes he gets off of enemies. Check the game trailer out if you haven't seen it yet, it's kind of like Skyrim. The music is awesome, the setting is beautiful, it's really cool! Anyway please and I mean please Review and Comment on the story and chapter to tell me what you think about it! An author writes to get the reader's feedback so I'm all ears. Finally, thanks so much for giving this a read and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 7: Assessment

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Link brought his arms back, trying to stretch his whole upper body out before learning whatever technique Mayor Bo was going to teach him.

And he did this right in front of me!

I've seen some pretty fit and muscular guys back in Castle Town but this was ridiculous! Link's body was just so...right? Right for him I mean! The way his pecs and biceps matched each other in strength made him look more mature than his smooth young face did. I could feel heat rising to my face quicker than a current on a waterfall. Did he not realize I was right there!? Right in front of his shirtless body!?

"What?" He suddenly asked me with one of his eyebrows raised. I made some sort of inhuman squeal with my mouth and shook my head vigorously. "No! Nothing! I've got your stuff! Now go!"

 _Alright that may have been a little obvious._

He continued to give me a look I can't describe before letting it go and giving me a smile.

"Well whatever! I'm gonna be quick so we can go! Sorry you had to hold my clothes and equipment," he said to me sympathetically. My green eyes widened and I shook my head again, this time in a more tame fashion because I'm not a mindless dummy anymore.

"Oh no, I got it Link!" I said loudly, shooing him away with my hand. He nodded and stepped onto the platform while I stood to the side of it holding his stuff. My face was still red and I bet it will be like this the whole time because he is still shirtless.

I don't like Link or anything but damn! He looks good!

Now that I was at least half myself again I was kicking myself for acting like a brainless stupid girl. Ugh, I was practically turning into a tomato at how crimson my face was! And the way I squeaked right there in front of him! Oh my gods, he must've thought I was just being idiotic or something. Okay I really need to forget about what just happened because if not I'll be paranoid about it all day. Shaking my head, I turned my attention to the two men on the platform and watched as the mayor explained some things about how to do whatever it was that they were going to do.

"Alright Link! The first thing you have to do before every single match is spread your legs wide and stomp one foot after the other once. It shows respect for your opponent and passion for the sport itself," The middle-aged man said with his arms crossed. His words were so full of excited energy that I thought he might start shaking. I don't know if it's me, but nothing about this would make anyone excited. Link looked back at me with skepticism showing in his eyes and I giggled.

"...Like this!" The mayor screamed before raising his right foot first and stomping it into the ground, making the whole room vibrate. He then did the same with his left foot and the room shook again with his overwhelming power! But mostly his weight...

Link mimicked the man perfectly except that the shaking part was a little less noticeable with him. Accepting the boy's performance so far, the mayor nodded his head admirably and continued on with the lesson.

"Good! Now that we have our introductions out of the way we can start the real action! The Gorons are very skilled in what we are about to do so I need you to listen and focus on everything I'm saying to you. If you don't it might seriously hurt your performance when you face them head on. Now, like I said, the Gorons have been practicing this wrestling-type sport for hundreds of years so it's a pretty safe bet to say that they're experts at what they do. Most of them would be classified as a heavy-weight fighter by the looks of their size. You, however, might could come in between light-weight and heavy-weight but I'm not sure about that..." He said as if he were only talking to himself instead of Link. Link looked at me again and I knew he was growing impatient.

I don't blame him.

According to Midna, we don't have a lot of time to just hang around and listen to some fat guy talk for an hour or two! We need to get up that mountain! Mayor Bo did some more muttering before I decided to ask him if he would actually start the lesson. Though, in a much more polite manner. Link was too nice to say anything so it was up to me! I cleared my throat and brushed my blonde bang to the side.

"Excuse me Mayor Bo, but what were you going to teach Link just now?" I asked. The man blinked and moved his nose around in thought, making the tusks around his mouth move along with it. Yeah, did I mention he had fucking tusks jetting out of his mouth!? What did this Ilia girl Link's been talking about look like anyway!? Wasn't she the mayor's daughter!?

"Ahh yes my dear, thank you! Sometimes I get off track and I'll just babble on and on about useless things. I know you two fine young lads are on a tight schedule so I won't keep ya long, I promise!"

 _Yes I totally believe that._

Link looked absolutely relieved and grateful towards me for doing that and I sent him a wink and a thumbs up. I told him I got his back. A shadow of a smile appeared on his face and he turned back to the man who _was supposed to_ be teaching him the move to defeat the Gorons.

"As I was saying, to defeat the Gorons you have to be vigilant, cunning, and quick! You have to have cat-like reflexes and you need to be able to react to anything they throw at you. Now I don't know about me in my old age but I have full confidence in you Link. You're still a strapping young man so you should be fine. Now the best way to start is to get in a semi-crouch position! And then you gotta keep your hands up! You best be ready for any attack the opponent attacks you with. In this particular type of match, the two competitors are only allowed to push the enemy off the platform or they can attack by slapping their opponent. Do you understand?" He asked. Link got that exact same look when he was determined on doing something as he nodded his head definitely.

"Got it."

He got into position and stared at the mayor in seriousness.

"Alright, ready, set, go!"

The mayor came at Link like a speeding arrow and brought his hands up like a bear. Link quickly reacted by doing the same and the two men pressed against each other forcibly. They made this slapping sound with their bodies which made me gag internally but thankfully Link backed up and pushed the older man off of him. He was then caught off guard when he felt Bo's hand slap him across the face. He gasped and backed up again in surprise. The breath in my throat hitched just watching Link get hit but he recovered naturally like he always does.  
 _  
"Hmm...I always knew this was going to happen traveling with this one. Him getting slapped by half-naked old men."_

I cut my eyes to the right and jumped at the sight of Midna next to me. Seriously she didn't have to scare me like that. I raised my hand and pointed at her.

"You hush! And where have you been all this time?" I asked her accusingly. She waved her tiny dark fingers and frowned. "I was just resting is all. All of this light is doing a number on me so sometimes I need a rest is all. Besides, it's none of your business anyway missy," she said with a tiny smile on her lips.

I have a feeling she's lying to me...

There's no use in continuing the conversation with her. She would only complain about something or tell me to shut up. It's funny that I've pretty much gotten used to her already. She's not all that bad but I link still needs adjusting. Speaking of Link, I turned my head back to the match and saw him push the mayor off the platform just in time. I dropped his clothes and pumped my fist because I'm a total idiot.

"Yeah! You go Link! That's how it's done!" I screamed before rolling my eyes at myself. Did I sound like a total brute or what? But Link didn't seem to mind as he gave me a smile through heavy breaths. He put his hands on his hips and took one final deep breath before getting back to his normal breathing cycle.

"Now you've done it. He's puffing his chest out now," Midna mumbled with a bored look. I smiled and waved at him. Let him have his fun while he has it. As for the mayor, he got up slowly from the ground and dusted off his pants with satisfaction shining in his expression.

"That was really good my boy! I'm surprised you managed to pick up on everything on your first try. I'm even more surprised that you beat me and I was really trying hard to knock you off! Guess lack of strength comes with age eh?"

Link grinned like a cheeky monkey and put his arms behind his head.

"Nah, I just did what you told me sir."

"Nonsense! You're a natural! Now that we're done with that let me show the real trick to beating the Gorons..." Bo told Link as he turned around and started to look for something. I watched as Link's mouth fell completely open. He walked forward throwing his arms out.

"Wait a minute! I did all that for nothing!? Dude I'm like soaking wet in my own sweat! Ugh!" He whined loudly. Midna and I giggled loud enough for him to hear while the mayor ignored him. That, or he just didn't hear him. Link turned to us abruptly and his cheeks turned from its usual light tannish color to a mild pink one. That's when he shut his mouth and crossed his arms like the stubborn guy he was. I went over to him with his stuff, while Midna snuck back in my shadow, and lightly patted his bare back. Even though I was wearing gloves I could still feel the strong muscles that complimented his entire backside.

Now I was the one blushing!? Crap!

"Here you go Link. Hurry and put this on while he's busy," I said quickly, meaning the mayor. Link's frustrated countenance softened into a smile and he put his hand on his tunic in my arms. "Thanks again for holding them Scarlett."

He then took it and slipped the green piece of clothing over his head. The fabric, of course, fit perfectly and pressed against his hard chest tightly once he tied the small little brown belts around his waist and abdomen. He then put on his brown gauntlets and gloves while I fitted on his green hat that never seemed to fall off whenever we did something extreme or crazy like I don't know...let monkeys throw us across a fucking cliff!

"Here, I got it," he said, sliding the hat to the side a little to become more comfortable. He looked at me and held his arms out with his palms up.

"How do I look?"

"Hmm" I hummed, examining him. I reached up and brushed some of his dirty blonde hair to the side with my hand. He just watched me quietly while I brushed off some rogue lint on his shoulders as well. When I was done he snorted with his "thinking face" showing.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, you're just really good at acting like my mom."

I stared at him for a second before shaking my head. "No, I'm just really good at being a girl. Oh man you have so much to learn about women Link," I said with another pat to his shoulder. He was at a lost for words.

"N-no! I-...no! I meant that your really good at being a girl! That's what I meant!"

"Nope, too late. You already made a fool of yourself. Just accept it," I said mockingly, looking away from him. I love making him mad.

"Why you-"

"Ah-ha! Found it! Alright Link I got just the thing for you!" Mayor Bo yelled out, closing a large chest filled with all kinds of junk. He turned to us and held up a pair of metallic iron boots. Link and I tilted our heads in confusion and the mayor chuckled.

"The Gorons are way too strong for the average human. They would destroy you in a regular match! But with these babies, you can stand a chance. These boots are very heavy and will keep you glued to the ground. That is, until you move willingly. Go ahead, try them on!" He said in encouragement. The blonde boy clicked his tongue and slipped his right foot in the metal boot. He did the same with the left and his eyebrows raised.

"Oh wow," he exclaimed before looking up. "It's like they lock in on your legs as soon as you put them on. Pretty cool!"

He tried to start walking and managed to take a few steps with a grunt or two.

"Walking's a bitch though."

And he was right by the looks of it. Those things looked like freaking dumbbells. Mayor Bo glanced at me and closed the chest behind him.

"I'm sorry I don't have another pair for you Ms. Scarlett. You'll just have to let Link do all the hard work I guess. But that's the way it should be isn't it? A man should always do the hard work while a girl sits and watches before doing the easy work. Kind of like for dinner! The man makes the steak and the woman makes the salad!" He laughed.

 _Oh my gawds._

"Umm..." Link looked at me in concern and then down at my tightened fist. Of course I would get mad at what this guy just said! That's was absolutely...just rude! I opened my mouth to say what was on my mind, and I was going to do it too if it weren't for Link there to stop me. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it in his own while staring at me. I looked at him and his eyes appeared apologetic. I found myself looking at them for a moment before realizing the situation. I guess I'll be the bigger person...this time. I huffed and gave the mayor a fake smile.

"Of...course..."

"Atta girl! You got a good one here Link! She's smart enough to know her place! Unlike my wife was." The mayor frowned and turned back to his chest. I was just about ready to roll up my imaginary sleeves and strangle this guy but Link was able to restrain me again.

"Well thanks for helping us sir! We'll be on our way!"

And just like that, we left the man's house and we're back near the creek that ran through the village again. Link closed the front door, sighed, and then looked at me. I was pretty furious.

"I know..." He started. I looked away from him and continued to shake my head, my anger threatening to burst out the bubble that was my temper. The boy next to me grabbed my hand again and I looked at him.

"I'm sorry he did that. He was just born in a different time so he's really old-fashioned. I just want you to know that I would never and will never treat you like that for as long as I live. Okay?" He asked reassuringly. Well that just killed all my anger...in fact, it actually made me a little happy to hear him say that. I probably knew that already but hearing him say it was so satisfying.

He truly respected me.

Without a word, my frown turned upwards into a smile and I walked towards the exit of the village, my eyes glued to the ground in thought. Link followed close behind as we left for Faron Woods. He didn't know what to think. I didn't tell him if I was better or anything so he continued to worry about it until we made it to Hyrule Field again. Epona was there waiting for us and I rubbed her soft coat from left to right. I then hopped on the saddle on her back with Link still watching me cautiously.

"I'm okay now. Come on, let's get to that mountain," I told him calmly. He still looked like he was unsure until I patted the seat in front of me...

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

Scarlett patted the seat in front of her with that innocent smile of hers on her seventeen-year-old face. I didn't know whether she was still pissed about that whole "mayor" incident or that she was really okay with it after all. More about that, the mayor is so...Hylia, the man's insane! How on earth was he crazy enough to say all of those things to Scarlett right in front of her!? I thought she might sock him right in the jaw and break one of the tusks that shoots out from his mouth. Yeah I don't know why those are there...but anyway, she looked pissed! However, being the gentlemen I always am I saved the day and made everyone happy! I think...Just by scanning the girl on the horse I'm not sensing anything fake about her right now. She's being honest and truthful I'm pretty sure.

"...Okay," I said slowly, getting on my faithful horse Epona. The horse snorted happily now that I was in control of her now. She was still peeved about those monsters that tried to capture her earlier. I looked back at Scarlett and she looked at me.

"Again, I'm so sorr-"

"Shhh," she quieted me gently and wrapped her arms around my waist to hold on while we rode. I decided to shut up at that point. I wasn't going to keep on if she didn't want to talk about it. So we rode. We rode across the field in silence for about half of the ride before Scarlett just started laughing. I turned and smiled a little.

"What?"

"This is so much fun! I love riding on a horse!" She yelled through the fast wind around us. I grinned at that and went even faster. It was her second time riding a horse and she still could not stop laughing at how much fun she was having.

It was so cute.

Wait, have I ever used that word before? Cute? Oh well, whatever.

When we reached Kakariko Village we headed for the entrance of the mountain once again where that jerk Goron pushed me off, but not before getting a bottle of healing spring water; just in case something happens to us. I also recommended to Scarlett that we go to the shop and see what they had so we walked in the closest shop we could find. The shop was a little run down. Boards and nails covered the walls while an empty counter sat in the middle of the room.

"Is anyone here?" Scarlett called out.

"Right here." The voice came from behind the counter. I reached over it and looked to see one of the kids from my village, Malo. I asked him what he was doing here and he explained that he decided that he would stay here and make a name for himself. He said he wanted to be a great businessman so he was starting his career with his own shop. It's kind of funny since he's so short.

"Pshh, what are you going to name it? Malo Mart?" I snickered. He seemed unamused.

"Yes."

I stopped snickering and looked at him in confusion. He was actually serious. I laughed nervously and nodded over to the things he had in his shop. I noticed that there was a large blue Hylian-styled shield in stock so I was going to ask him about that.

"Anyway, How much is the shield?" He glanced at the shield before replying. "The shield's sixty rupees."

Oh crap, that's a lot of money. I would say no but I'm going to guess that there's fire in the mountain or fire-based enemies and this wooden shield that Scarlett and I have now would burn up in five minutes. I had 150 rupees in my wallet so I would have enough to buy two of them. Thinking of Scarlett, I asked another question. "How many do you have?"

"I have two left in stock but the last one is thirty rupees more because it's my last one," Malo said with a small evil smile. I gritted my teeth and glared at the little boy with fire in my eyes. How dare he raise the damn price! I saved his ass once! Scarlett looked worried next to me. "Are you sure you have to get one for me? I mean, that's all of your money Link. I can pay for it too," She insisted. I shook my head and slammed the money on the table.

"150 rupees."

"Excellent. Here are your Hylian shields. Thank you for stopping by Malo Mart sucker."

I pointed at him while Scarlett wrapped her arms around my chest and started pulling me to the exit of the shop. "I swear when this is all over I'm gonna make you pay for this! You're lucky I'm the chosen one!"

"Yep, just keeping telling yourself that," Malo said, looking down at his counter and counting my money. Once I was out I gave a small grunt of frustration. That was absolutely ridiculous! Scarlett watched me quietly before smiling.

"Come on Link, just forget about him. You can beat up the little squirt when we finish going through the mountain. I bet you there are some pretty expensive riches in there~...and thank you for buying me a new shield…"

I immediately stopped being angry and smiled real big.

"It's no problem, and yeah I guess you're right. But if we don't find any treasures in there Malo's getting his ass kicked," I told her as we went up the small path up to the mountain. There, I climbed the netted wall first before Scarlett like I did before because I just wanted to test these boots out. I trusted the mayor but he was crazy at certain times and if these boots were just a sham than I or Scarlett would get hurt. And if that happened I would never forgive myself. I'd rather be hurt then let one of my teammate get wounded. Yeah, Scarlett is tough but that's my hero's code! Because I'm the hero of the twilight! Yeah, I like that title.

"Link, do the boots work!?" Scarlett yelled from down below the wall. I jumped and the world came back to me. Damn it, I was daydreaming again. How is that even possible that I did that while climbing the f-ing wall!? In front of me, that same goron from before noticed that I was on his turf again and he glared at me with his lifeless eyes.

"Didn't I tell you not to come here again!? Or did I? It doesn't matter! I'm gonna kick your ass again!"

He morphed his giant body into a boulder and slid down from his place. The boulder picked up speed and now it was barreling towards me faster than I could even pull out my sword from its sheath. I simply raised my hands like the mayor told me to. I already had the iron boots on so it was up to fate on whether this would work or not. I just kept repeating the same thing in my head, _'just do it like you would a goat at the ranch'._ The goron rolled even closer and when it connected with my hands I stayed on my feet. The dirt-covered creature only managed to push me back a couple of inches but stopped when I had a good enough grip on him. I clutched my fingers around the large body tightly and with a grunt I threw it over the side of the wall. Cupping my hands, I warned Scarlett as he was thrown.

"Scarlett get to the wall now!"

I heard her scream and I quickly poked my head over the ledge. I sighed in relief when she was completely unharmed while the goron rolled down the hill with a scream. Scarlett and I watched him go until he was gone and she looked up at me with a surprised expression. "Holy crap! Did you do that!? That was awesome!" She cried out with excitement adorning her features. I grinned and let my feet dangle off the side.

"These babies are a keeper! Now come on," I said, extending my hand to pull her up to where I was. She flipped her hair behind her back, making the pendent in her hair shine with the light of the sun, and took my hand. She was light as a feather as I pulled her up with ease.

"So those boots really work?" She asked while we walked up the newly discovered pathway. I honestly have no idea where that goron I threw went but who cares! Oh shit, what if he rolled into the city? Stop it Link! Stop worrying! I shook my head a little and carried on with the conversation. "Yeah they're really really heavy when something other than me tries to move it. It's pretty nifty. I wish the mayor had a pair for you. You think you can fit into these boots? I hate to be selfish," I said to her with a smile. She shook her head and made a sound of disgust at the mention of the mayor's name. She really hated that guy it seems; she has good reason to.

"Oh Link, you're the most selfless guy I know so don't put yourself down. Besides, I didn't want those boots anyway. It's not that the Mayor Bo was right or anything I just think they're kind of ugly."

Ha! Wow.

"You're not serious are you?" I asked with a hint of a smile, "Surely that's not the reason. Not the main one anyway. They aren't that attractive and I can't see them matching your...outfit," I said to her after a pause. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and turned to me.

"Meh, They're probably too heavy for me as well. And what were you going to say about my outfit?"

"Nothing, why?"

Her lips curled into a playful smile and she pressed on.

"Nu-uh! Come on, tell me please! You paused!"

"Well I was going to say something like 'beautiful' or 'pretty' but I just decided not to say it..." I replied with a shrug. My face better not be red right now. The blonde-haired girl put on a triumphant smirk and crossed her arms with her arms closed. "Aww why not? That would've been sweet. And I knew you were hiding something! I think I'm starting to see through you Link. And by that I mean that I'm getting used to how you are. That's how friends are supposed to be you know. It's a good thing!" She said happily. We passed through the pathway and entered a larger part of the area. The place was filled with ridges that ran along the side of the mountain. Small geysers shot hot steam through their little tunnels up into the air before stopping for only a few seconds. Looking around, there were gorons everywhere. I stopped and checked my gloves.

"Oh yeah? How am I usually? I'm not a jerk am I?"

She giggled.

"Far from it. My full personality examination of you is that you are very easy to get along with. You're pretty quiet when you're not talking to me. You tend to keep to yourself when around people you don't know, yet, you were the first to introduce yourself to me which contradicts my whole assessment. As to how you act, you're very kind with a hint of smart ass comments coming under your breath every now and then hehe. That's not a bad thing because I do the same thing. And last, but not least, you're obviously brave. I mean why wouldn't you be if you were the chosen hero? That wouldn't make any sense..." She told me. Whoa, I sound pretty good according to her! Except the "smartass" part but I'm a teen so that's a given. All I know is, I found myself smiling at every word she was saying because she was starting to babble.

"Your 'assessment' of me? That's a pretty fancy word Scarlett. You're really smart you know that?"

"Well thank you! I-...wait is that that smartassery I'm sensing again?" She asked with raised eyebrows. I chuckled and shook my head, looking at her directly. "No you're really smart and I'm glad I have a partner who can make up for my uhh...lack of a formal education."

We passed one of the geysers and steam shot up at just the right moment to scare us half to death. I jumped slightly while Scarlett let out a small squeak and clung to my arm for a second.

"Ugh, son of a...stupid geyser thingy. Anyway, are you saying that you are dumb? Because you're not. You're pretty smart Link, solving all of those ancient puzzles and figuring out what I could never do on my own. Don't tell me you have no education. The village has a school right or did you teach yourself how to read and write and all that?" She was staring at me with curiosity in her eyes and I told her that that was the case. "See! No ordinary person could teach themselves! That's a natural gifted intelligence you have Link."

"I'm glad you think so. The good thing about it was that I didn't have to do any homework," I laughed.

"Damn right it was a good thing! My teachers were brutal about that kind of thing! It sucked! But now I guess I don't have to go to school anymore huh? Saving the world is way more fun anyway. Oh I almost forgot to ask you, what is your 'official assessment' of me? I told you mine of you so it's only fair that you do the same," She said as we were about to approach the first goron in the area. I could tell her something about how she fights like the most kickass girl I've ever met or I could tell her that she's also brave because I already told her that she was smart. However, I think I'm going to wait and let our journey continue so I can see more of her. I've only known her for a few days after all.

''I think I'm going to wait and tell you later."

Her lips parted somewhat.

"What!? Oh come on!" She whined. I was just about to tell her again that she had to wait but I was stopped by a gigantic explosion off in the distance. We both crouched down for a split second and looked up to see the volcano erupting. A barrage of molten lava sprayed everywhere and covered the rocks that were falling from the recent explosion. The rocks were just large enough to get us both killed!

"Watch out!" I yelled, pulling us both under the ledge where a tiny cave had formed over the years. The ground underneath us vibrated with a low hum as rocks pelted the ground mercilessly. The gorons did not seem to care that the mountain above them was erupting, they just continued on with their daily lives. They were tougher than I thought! The eruption lasted about a minute with one epic-sized rock landing right in the middle of the area as the finale. Red patterns glowed with the lava inside the rock as everything went quiet once again. It was starting to get dark so the glow acted as a flashlight to any visitors; that being Scarlett and I.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know but it looks like this is a everyday thing for the gorons who live here," I said quietly. Midna came out of Scarlett's shadow and scanned the rock for any clues. I don't really know what she does and why she does it. And where has she been all this time!? I haven't seen her all day. It's not like I missed her or anything, it was just weird that I didn't have her constant bitching and complaining tap tapping on my ear drum. I happen to have excellent hearing so that just increases the annoyance I get from her.

 _"Hmm, it looks like some kind of hieroglyphics. I'm going to snapshot this so we can remember it later."_

"What's a snapshot?" Asked the girl next to me. I was also curious.

 _"Don't worry about it. You two just make your way into the mountain."_ She moved to go back to Scarlett's shadow but I called her name before she could. "Hey where you been all day? And why are you in Scarlett's shadow instead of mine? Did I piss you off or something because if I did I don't remember doing it." Midna's eye twitched and she closed her teeth tightly together. _"What do you mean you don't remember!? You freaking screamed at me for no reason! It was totally uncalled for!"_

I tried to think back and when the memory hit me my lips formed in the shape of an "O". She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"I only yelled at you because you wouldn't stop screaming at us and you made fun of my singing!" I exclaimed with a frown. Oh shit, did I really just admit that? Midna's eyes widened for a second while Scarlett cooed at me. She gonna tease me again...

"Aww that's why you were mad at her? That's so adorable Link!"

"Shut up..." I muttered under my breath, walking up to the goron without the two girls. Scarlett laughed to herself and followed me. That's what I get for being the only guy in the group. They, most of the time, are good company though. I'm really happy I have them around instead of being by myself all alone. That would suck major deku nuts. Back to what I was doing, I walked closer to the goron before he saw me and put out his hands to fight me. I smirked and took out my sword with my right hand with my new shield in my left. This is what I was used to and good at. The duration of the fight surprised me a little. All I had to do was hit the goron with my shield and he curled up into a ball like a turtle would its shell.

 _"Quick! Jump on his back, both of you! Hurry!_ " Midna yelled out. Wait what? I opened my mouth to protest but Scarlett pushed the both of us on the goron and soon we found ourselves in the air and then on the higher ledge. So that's how we're going to get up to the top. Again, neat. I'm not going to go into detail about what Scarlett and I did to get up the mountain, but basically all we had to do was force the gorons to turn into a ball and then hop on until they bounced us to the entrance of their "Sacred Grounds". I thought it would be much more difficult than that but I was wrong. Doesn't always hurt to be wrong!

Inside, there was a large circular room like the one Mayor Bo had. Also like the mayor, the room had a platform in it where you could wrestle. There were, I'd say, eight gorons in the room and when they saw two humans in their "dojo" all hell broke loose. They all rolled at us together and I thought we were done for until a voice stopped them.

"Enough! If these two youngsters want to come in here you should not gang up on them. At least give them a chance to prove themselves. I'm sure they're here for a reason but I will not hear any of it until you beat me in a match boy or girl. So what do you say?"

The speaker was an older-looking goron. He must be the elder. Scarlett leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "The mayor wasn't kidding when he said this is all they do…" I chuckled and accepted the match. I put the metal boots on right in front of the elder and his fellow gorons but they didn't seem to even care. So we did the exact thing I did with the mayor and the gorons were completely shocked by how fast it took for me to beat the elder. The only person who wasn't was Scarlett who had full confidence in me.

The elder picked himself up off the ground and smiled at me proudly.

"You have some skill boy! I'll hear you and your friend out!"

"Good, we've come here on behalf of Kakariko Village because we have noticed some unusual occurrences happening, especially the eruptions that we encountered on the way here. We are also looking for something that we believe is in the mountain," I explained. The elder nodded and showed us the entrance to their grounds.

"The cause for the eruptions is simple. Our grand protector, Darbus, has gone berserk ever since I and three other of our four elders found a treasure deep in the heart of our precious mine. I bet that is the treasure you are looking for. He just...started destroying everything so we sealed him in the mines. We still haven't found a true answer to the problem but if you two are willing to go in there and fix everything than go right ahead. However, if you die than that's your fault," He told me and Scarlett. Her face turned into a scowl on its own.

"How...nice of you to say…" She said. It was kind of rude to say to us…

"The mine is that way." The elder pointed to the entrance and sighed. "Good luck young ones."

"Thank you," I said kindly, taking both and Scarlett into the mines. I just wanted to get this over with and go. This whole day has been rudeness after rudeness. I just need some sleep, that's all. Scarlett looks like she also needs her beauty rest but there's no way I would ever tell her that out loud. And I'm talking about her temper today not her appearance because she looks good. I mean! Whatever! Back to the stupid Goron Mine! The first thing I noticed when entering it was the extreme hotness of the area. It must have been at least ninety degrees in here and I was already starting to sweat. Scarlett fanned her face and groaned.

"Oh Hylia, this humidity is gonna kill my hair today."

That's girl's logic for ya. She's not wrong though, my hair's not gonna be in its awesome style if we stay here long.

Up ahead there was a spiral path going downward and it met with a long river of lava. Wait, lava!?

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Yeah i know this was super late! And I'm sorry! It's just I had no wifi to update this and no time to work on it because my Dad insisted that we always do something while on vacation. So please forgive me for that, I will try to get another chapter out this weekend. But the vacation was really good if you care at all! I'm really tired and exhausted now though because the airport was just brutal and the North Carolina Charlotte airport is crap, I hate it so freaking much. Anyway, please review or comment on the story. I'm always open to feedback, especially some advice or ideas. Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time! P.S. Congrats to my British readers for leaving the European Union...I think. I'm from America soooo….I don't really know about that lol.**


	8. Chapter 8: The Dangerous Goron Mines

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! Now this was like two chapters ago but we have surpassed the 1,500 views mark which is great! Keep it up! I know this story can get at least 10,000! Now I hope you guys have liked the story so far. I've tried very hard to accurately get my own perspective of the game as well as my own character. So, please review or comment on the story! It helps the story get out there, it helps me write faster, and it also helps me improve upon my writing! Again, I hope you guys have liked the story so far, thank you for reading, and here is the chapter!**

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Ch. 8: The Dangerous Goron Mines

 **(Link's POV)**

I knew this place was going to be hot but lava? Seriously? There was literal lava shooting up like walls in certain places of the hot river while steam filled the air. Why...Why on Earth does everything have to be so difficult? Why Hylia?

"Lava!? But...what if we fall in?" Scarlett asked. I could tell she was a little frightened by the whole setting. I didn't blame her because I felt the same.

"Listen, it's going to be okay. We just have to be very careful and take our time. We need to

stick together."

She nodded and calmed down some. She stayed behind and so I chose to be the first one to go. We walked down the downhill path and stopped in front of separated stones in the lava. We jumped over them and reached a rocky surface that connected to a metal bridge. The two of us walked through a metal cage that led to the bridge and right away I felt heat coming from the metal on both sides of us. Scarlett, who was walking in front of me, reached to steady her balance on one of the poles and I quickly grabbed her hand.

"Huh?" She asked.

"I think the metal is really hot so don't touch it. You might get burned…" I warned her. She let out a small gasp and brought her hand away from the walls as soon as she heard me say that. I smiled a bit and continued to walk until I almost tripped on a small block in the floor. Who the hell put that there so I could trip on my ass!?

"What the hell is this?" I voiced my suspicion as I examined the tiny little thing. I tested my boot on it and it moved down slightly but not all the way. Hmm...Was it a switch? I put my whole weight on the switch and it moved down again, this time a little more. Scarlett hummed in thought and then looked up at me after brushing some hair out of her eyes.

"Do you need me to get on it so it will go all the way down?" She asked. I shook my head and wiped some sweat that dripped down my cheek. Damn this fucking heat…

"No, you don't weigh anything so it wouldn't budge at all."

Her face went red noticeably.

"Ha! Uhh...No. I'm like a total fatass!" She said jokingly. I rolled my eyes and shook my head again.

"No you're not Scarlett. You're not even close to being fat so don't ever think that way okay?" I said to her kindly. Her mouth slowly turned into a growing smile and she looked at the ground with a happy aura surrounding her after nodding her head. I smiled as well and then got back to the switch. Now how could I make this go down? I'm thinking...I'm thinking...heavy...boots...the iron boots! I put on the iron boots over my own and stepped on the switch. This time it actually went down all the way and a part of the metal wall next to us raised.

"Wow! Good thinking!" Scarlett praised me as we walked through the hidden part of the wall and onto a narrow bridge. This is where I had to hold Scarlett in place because she kept whimpering that she was 'oh so clumsy' or that she would fall off and burn in hell like her great uncle John...So yeah I just put my hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and walked over the lava slowly.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" She kept chanting.

"Just don't look down," I told her with a laugh. After another ten or twenty seconds more of her screaming we made it over and she was back to being her old self again. "Whoo! That was totally exhilarating! I wasn't even scared!"

It's too hot to even argue with her about that. I just agreed with her and walked over to the first door in the mines that led to another room. Walking inside, we saw the epic size of what we were getting into. The room was filled with the same metal material that we walked across in the last room. The whole room looked like a massive pit at the center of a volcano. It sure looked that way, seeing as how you could see the open sky from this room. Lava was everywhere, and I mean everywhere, so any wrong decisions could mean Scarlett and I get burned to a crisp. Hopefully that doesn't happen because I intend on living the rest of my life until I grow old and die from severe diarrhea. But that's a different story…

"Wow, look at those things on the top," Scarlett mentioned to me, pointing at these large magnet-like cranes. The bottom of them were a bright bluish color. Something about that one fact made me think twice about the crane's significance to us. However, I had to turn all of my attention to the monsters that were lurking ahead. Most were those green trolls that had kidnapped the children from my village known as Bulblins. Some had clubs in their hands while others were archers. I really fucking hated those things. First of all they hit me in the back of the head which hurt like hell, they shit wherever they want, and they constantly try to attack anything that they see! I don't think Scarlett has encountered any of these monsters because she was covering her eyes in disgust.

"Link, I really like the color green and all...but these things make it look SO wrong in SO many ways. You lead the way."

"Okay," I said. First we walked forward to a circular platform with two paths that you could take; one up and one down. The downward one, by the looks of it, was a dead end so we took that one first just in case something cool was down there. And I was right! There was a large blue chest just sitting there. The only problem was that there were three of those ugly creatures blocking it! Nothing a good sword can't fix. Scarlett and I looked at each other knowingly before taking out our swords and destroying all three bulblins. Piece of cake.

"Those things really suck don't they?" Scarlett said as she leaned her arms on the blue chest. I snorted and told her that those things would be better off if they just jumped in the lava right now. She giggled and got off the chest so I could open it. Instead of an expensive jewel or a ton of rupees, all that was in the chest was a small key.

"Oh crap, you know what this means!" I yelled out.

"That most of the doors here are locked for some reason and someone has laid out chests that contain the keys? Yeah, I figured before we even started…" She said, already making her way up the ramp and going up the upward path. I followed and stopped when we reached a set of panels that flipped every five seconds. And of course, bubbling lava was boiling below, just waiting to catch us in its fiery clutches.

"Just wait until it goes flat again," Scarlett said while staring at the panel. Once the panel was flat we jumped on it and then jumped on the second one before reaching the locked door. Before I could put the key in the lock Scarlett grabbed my arm and shook it uncontrollably.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! I want to do it!" She screamed while laughing. I grinned and handed her the key.

"Go for it."

She inserted the key and the chains fell to the ground with a thud. She then pumped her fist and smiled real big.

"Yes! I love doing that!"

You can't help but smile at that. Always liked people who enjoyed the little things. I think that's why we made such a great team. That, and the fact that we're both not total assholes to each other. I think we've actually become best friends! Ilia does have the time factor on her side but Scarlett just has this thing about her that you gotta love. I can't really explain it just yet…

"Come on! Let's go see what's in here!" She said, opening the heavy door herself this time. Has she gotten stronger!?

This room wasn't much different other than the door to the next room was blocked by a gate and that the room was a lot smaller. There was also a new monster in here. It looked a lot like a giant lizard. The front half of it was covered in armor while its tail was exposed.

"I think that lizard's tail is its weak spot," I whispered, careful not to disturb the reptilian creature. Scarlett nodded and gripped her sword in her right hand. I did the same with my left and we both just started swinging and slashing away at the reptile's tail. It screeched and plopped down on the ground before blowing up in small particles. Unfortunately, we failed to notice that there was a second one in the middle of the room. This one saw us and roared at us. The only reason it wasn't attacking us was because it was behind another set of separated rocks that were planted in lava. So all it could do was scream at us and back up into the wall behind him. He kept getting pushed forward again by metal pipes that shot steam out occasionally. I looked at my partner and told her that we should wait until it was close to the wall so we could have enough space to jump across and land on the other side. That was the plan right up until the lizard shot fire at us. Fire! How in the-...

"O-Okay...just jump across and hope for the best!"

"That's not very reassuring!" She said back to me before groaning. She was the first to bravely jump across. I thanked Hylia when I saw that she was safe on the other side. Now it was my turn. The lizard was distracted by Scarlett who was attacking him with her sword and shield so I was able to just jump across unperturbed.

"Hey!" I yelled, getting the lizard's attention. It turned to me and threw up a whole crapload of fire at me. I'm so glad I bought this shield because I crouched down and put it in front of me. It resisted the fire and Scarlett had a clear shot at the monster's tail. She began to lower her sword down on it but the lizard saw her and swung his whole body, hitting her with its tail and sending her into the wall with the metal pipes. I watched in horror as the pipes shot out an explosion of steam at random and burned Scarlett right on her arm. She cried out in pain and grabbed her arm while I was so angry at the lizard I couldn't think straight. I completely obliterated the bastard in three seconds flat. I didn't even watch it disappear in its usual black smoke as I ran to Scarlett and asked her if she was okay. Tears were coming down her delicate cheeks in numbers.

I had never seen her cry before. It was awful…

She cried and looked at me in sadness as her hands shook and her left arm burned. It looked extremely red and looked like it could be a second degree burn. In a hurry, I took out the bottle of spring water I had gotten back in Kakariko Village and a small rag I had coincidentally in my pocket. It was probably from a random enemy. I poured the whole bottle of spring water on the rag because I didn't give two shits about myself or anything else. The only thing that mattered right now was Scarlett; even if I would have no spring water for myself.

"Hold on, hold on! I got you…" I said to her comfortably as I removed her hands from her burned arm slowly and wrapped the wet rag around it. The water would heal it quickly but it would still sting for a few seconds. Her breath hitched and I tried to calm her down.

"This is going to sting a little so hang in there Scarlett…" I said as I tied the rag tightly. Tears continued to fall down her face like a waterfall and small whimpers escaped her mouth repeatedly. When I looked from her arm to her face she laid her face on my shoulder and her hands on my chest. I was momentarily stunned but wrapped my arms around her nonetheless.

"It's okay...I know it hurts…" I whispered to her, trying anything to make her feel better. She continued to sniff and whimper but her crying calmed down after a while. I ran my hand up and down her back sympathetically and she stayed there silently. I didn't even realize that my shoulder was completely wet from her sobbing. Not like I cared...

"I-I'm sorry...I…" She pulled away from my shoulder and her green eyes were covered with glistening tears. Her face was red and tear stains ran down her cheeks and neck. I shook my head and wiped her wettened cheek.

"No, don't apologize. Are you okay?" I asked her in absolute concern.

She wiped her eyes and nodded.

"Y-Yes, the spring water healed it and most of the pain is gone now...but it hurt so bad Link. I just couldn't help but cry...I've never felt so much pain in my life…" She told me with a saddened expression. I sighed and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. She hugged me back and I could feel her smile a little bit.

"Thank you so much Link…"

"Of course. That's what friends are for right?" I said with a smile as I looked at her again. She sniffed and nodded with that happy smile of hers.

That's when I knew that I never wanted to see her in pain like that again for as long as I live…

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Ugh, I'm so embarrassed. I cried right in front of him. I was literally sobbing and weeping on his shoulder but it wasn't like I could freaking help it! That burn on my arm hurt so much I couldn't even...focus on anything other than the pain. But, Link is such a good friend. He healed me and comforted me like a friend and a guy in general should do. I'll never forget what he did for me just now. It was so-

"You good now?"

"Oh...Yeah, I'm okay. And yeah, you're like my best friend now Link," I said loudly to him as he walked over to another switch and stepped on it with his iron boots. The gate that was blocking the door opened and allowed us access to it. Link jumped back to where I was and nodded his head with a smile.

"Glad to hear! And you're my best friend too!" He said thankfully. He helped me over to the next door and this room looked like it had been sent to me from the Gods. The room was filled with dark blue water that looked WAY cooler than the lava in the last room. That's for sure! There was a switch under the water and above it there was a crystal blue material on the wall that led to the door on the second floor of the room. That was peculiar…

"What do you think that part of the wall is?" I asked Link. He shrugged and took my arm carefully.

"I don't know but let's get some water on your arm," He said, leading me over to the water. We crouched down and he slowly unwrapped the rag on my arm. I watched him with a small smile on my face. He was being very sweet again. It's not like I mind...Once the rag was off I could see my arm. It was still red but just looked like an ordinary sunburn now. Link cupped some water in his right hand and brought it to my burnt arm. He rubbed the water on the burn and I can't even tell you how good it felt. The water was super cold but Link's hand was warm so it gave my arm a soothing feeling when he rubbed the water on it. "Does that make it feel better?"

"Yeah, thank you Link. I can't even thank you enough right now." He patted my shoulder with a nod and turned to the water. There was a cage that was blocking us from just swimming under to the other side so we would have to go underwater. Ugh, my hair. Not my perfect hair!

"Alright come on!"

"Wait a minute!" I yelled as Link pulled my hand and we jumped in the water. I instinctively held my breath in and felt Link guiding me in the water underneath the cage. When we hit the surface again I took a deep breath to fill my lungs up with air. Link held his finger out for me to wait as he put on his iron boots and floated down into the water to hit the switch. I swear I almost died from the teenage boy scaring the crap out of me. I almost got knocked out because he flew out of the water and got stuck on the ceiling with a surprised yell leaving his lips.

"Holy...Holy shit! What was that!?" He screamed to me from up high. I swam in the water and shook my head.

"I don't know! Why are you glued to the ceiling!?"

"I don't fucking know!"

"Well get down!"

"How!?"

"I don't know! Just like...Walk off the blue part! Oh Hylia this is ridiculous…" I said to myself. Link's face twisted in confusion as he stepped off the blue part of the wall. His blue eyes widened as he fell back into the water, splashing me in the process. The only reason I didn't mind was because this is all so new for the both of us.

"So is the blue part of the wall some kind of magnet for the boots?" Link asked after he re-surfaced and brushed his wet hair out of his eyes. "I guess. It sure looks that way but if you are the only one that has a pair of boots then how am I supposed to get up there?" I asked him. He thought for a moment before giving me an evil smile. What the...Oh my gosh…

"I guess you'll just have to hold onto me tightly so you can hang on."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. He was right. I'm gonna slap him when we get out of here.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around his chest and back and locked my legs over his. His cheeks were red in a remarkable blush but that teasing smile of his was still plastered on his face. I'm pretty sure I'm blushing as well because his body is very well-built. Know what I mean? Stop it Scarlett! Stop it! Stop going off to the sidelines! He swam over to the point over the switch and we both flew to the ceiling. I tightened my grip on Link and he put his hand on my back as he started to walk to the door to the next room. It was only five seconds, but it felt like forever! The next room was a room a lot like the one where Link had to wrestle the goron elder or whatever. As soon as he saw it he groaned because there was a goron on the platform.

"Son of a bitch, do I have to do this wrestling thing again?"

I didn't answer him as I pulled him along with me. The goron was old so I highly doubted that he could even wrestle anymore. He looked at us and he jumped in surprise.

"I have been expecting two youths to cross my way!" He said in his elderly voice, "I am one of the four goron elders. I am sure you have met the first one when you came in here. You two are heroic and I am in great debt to you both for helping us in our time of need. Unfortunately, all I can give you right now is this." He took out a big piece of something and handed it to me. "That, young lady, is a piece to a large key. This large key was split into three parts when we sealed one of our fellow gorons in the mines. Each elder has a piece of it so you should be able to find them. The key opens a large door that leads to said goron so please be careful and be prepared before you go in the final room. Alright, toodles!"

I glanced at Link and he held in a laugh. We thanked the elder and walked to the advancing room. There were some pots next to it and I guess they're Link's fetish because he just _had_ to break them all to see what was inside. One of them had the map to the whole area for some reason...while the other one had what haunts my nightmares to this day. It was that ugly chicken from the Forest Temple!

"Nope! Nope! Nope!" I said on and on as I left the room. Link chuckled and patted Ooccoo on the head. He followed me in the next room, which just had another wall of that blue crystal stuff. All that we had to do was walk across it so nothing interesting here. The exact same thing happened in the next room, only this time the bottom had lave below it. This was literally hell; not even kidding. There were also some lava monsters that crawled on the ceiling but I slashed at them while Link walked us to the next door.

"Oh man, I might get sick from being upside down so much…" I told Link, holding my tummy in front of the next door.

"Tell me about it," He muttered, going into the next room but letting me in first. What a gentlemen. This room was the exact same room where we saw the large cranes overhead. We were just in another part of the room this time. At least now we knew what the blue stuff on the cranes was for. And lookie here! There's a switch up ahead! I wonder what that does! This whole thing seemed to be the same thing over and over again. I think you know what we did from here on out.

Step on a switch. Flip upside down on a blue crystal wall. Link walk upside down while I cling to his muscular body and try not to smell his natural manly scent while it happens.

Wait, did I just say that?

Jump across water. Kill some monsters. Walk on some more crystal walls. Find keys. Unlock doors. Jump across flipping panels. You know, the usual.

When we finally reached a room that was totally outside it felt like a breath of fresh air. Literally. I could finally breath in the cool air that was outside instead of the hot lava air that was inside. I was also sweating so much that I was afraid I would get dehydrated if I didn't do something quickly. Link didn't look any better.

" _You know, don't you think it would be a good idea if you guys took a break and drank some the water from inside? It's cold and clean since it's spring water. That would better instead of tiring yourselves. I'm getting exhausted just watching you two,"_ Midna said to us after coming out of my shadow. I had almost forgotten about her. Link and I just panted while she talked to us. We were too tired to do anything. The bad thing was that she was right. I hate to say it but it's true.

"You're right Midna. I'm so thirsty right now," I said. Link nodded in agreement and was about to say something before an arrow hit the wooden planks in front of us. Midna let out a small yelp while Link and I took a step back. Up ahead, there were a group of bulblins shooting arrows at us.

Assholes.

How were we going to fight them if we didn't have a bow and arrows? I glanced at Link and I could tell he knew what I was thinking. He sighed tiredly and took out his large blue Hylian shield.

"Get behind me."

I nodded as I got behind him and Midna did as well even though the arrows would just go through her. Link took a deep breath and let out a loud yell, making a sprint to the other side. I can't even believe it worked. Yeah it worked. The bulblins were too damn surprised by his scream that they stopped shooting at us and looked at each other. How stupid could you get? Link grinned behind at me and I shook my head with a smile.

"You're so crazy you know that!?"

"I know!" He replied proudly. "I got us to the other side didn't I?"

I rolled my eyes again and stepped inside the second elder's room. That meant we were almost done with this dungeon right? I sure hope so. The elder gave us some encouraging words before giving us the second piece of the key.

"Careful young travelers. There is a large goron in there who has been waiting on the monster who has corrupted these mines. I've tried to tell him that he'd be waiting there for a long time but he just won't listen to me. Don't know why. I'm a freaking elder! But you can try to smack some sense into him...that, or kick his ass. Good luck!"

I looked over at link and we both kind of had that same tired look on our faces. It really has been a long day and it was probably time for us to get some sleep. However, we just had to come here and get Midna's second piece of whatever she needs. The area under our eyes were dark and our eyes drooped slightly. I asked Link if it would be a good idea if we just took a small nap before completing this. He said that it would be better if we just went ahead and did everything that we had to.

"That sleep is gonna be even more satisfying once we get done," He said with a smile as we walked up to where the second elder told us to go. I slugged behind Link and suddenly got my energy again when I saw what we would be facing. The whole area was filled with lava obviously but it looked more like a "deathmatch" arena instead of the typical wrestling platform. Waiting for us, a gigantic goron stood up with widened eyes and pointed at us with terror striking his features.

"Humans! No way! You are the cause of this corruption!"

"No we're not we're-" Link tried to calm him down but he wasn't having any of that.

"Shut up you white devil!"

Link looked at me like 'kill me now' and then back at the goron.

"I am Dangoro! And I have waited here to kick your asses!" He yelled so loud that the whole platform we were standing on shook. Dangoro ran at us, the armor on his body clinging and clanging around, and threw his hands up in the air. Link and I took a step to the side together and dodged the goron's massive fist as it crashed into the platform. The ground beneath us shook again and I got a little worried that we might fall.

"Now's our chance!" Link told me as he attack the goron's stomach which was the only place where his armor wasn't covering. I did as well as quickly as I could and Dangoro turned into a ball as a way to stop getting hit with a gasp of pain hitting him like pins and needles.

"I have an idea." Link put on his boots, grabbed the goron in its ball form and slung it over the side into the lava. My jaw dropped to the floor. Link you crazy son of a bitch!

"Link! You just killed him!"

"No I didn't haha. Look!"

 _Bang!_

The goron shot back out of the lava with a scream and landed hard on the platform. He groaned and got back up with a frightened frown.

"Wow you two are so strong! I never knew humans had so much strength!"

Umm...I didn't really do anything and all Link did was throw you over the side of the platform so…?

"...I can see now that you're here to help us resolve this corruption that is scattered throughout our mines!"

How on Earth can you see that now!? We didn't tell you anything dumbass!

"I want to help you! In that room behind me there is a special weapon for the both of you! So please go young heroes! Go save my mines!" He said with a prideful expression on his hard rocky face. Link didn't say anything as we walked behind the goron and opened the door. Once inside I could finally voice my thoughts.

"These gorons aren't too bright are they?"

"No. Definitely not," He replied. Then his eyes went all sparkly and I knew what that meant. He saw something that was worth a lot of money. I turned my head to see a large chest in the middle of the room, nothing else. It didn't take Link to be told what he was supposed to do for him to lay his hands on the chest and open it. The inside of the chest shined brightly with blinding light before Link cussed loudly.

"Damn! Look what we got Scarlett!" He said in a happy tone as he lifted a large bow out of the chest along with a quiver of arrows. He handed it to me and the look of the bow took my breath away. The bow was gorgeous. It was light green on the ends while a faithful brown covered the middle of it. The string on it was strong and made of something ancient. On the side of it there were similar words that looked like the writing on the boomerangs we found in the Forest Temple. Only this time the word read 'Hero's Bow'. Ha! I just discovered a new question I can ask golden wolf, I mean Shade, when we see him next time. I looked and saw that Link's was a darkened blue on the sides but overall the same as mine. Scanning the arrow quiver in my hands I counted thirty sharp arrows in it. And when I say sharp I mean these arrows could go through anything!

"This is so badass! Okay, I'm not tired anymore! I'm kind of excited now. Do you know how to shoot a bow?" Link asked me. I smirked and put my hand on my hip.

"Of course I do. At school we had an archery class that's optional. Plus, my dad gave me some extra training so my accuracy is pretty good. How about you?" I asked him in curiosity. He smirked as well and gave me a thumbs up.

"I have eyes like a hawk and can hit anything I want!"

"Hmmm anything huh?"

"Yep!" He exclaimed. I giggled and shook my head as I slung the quiver behind my back and held the bow in my left hand. Link did the same with his right hand and we were off to find the third elder now. It turns out there was a hidden door in the chest room. It was concealed by a wall that was held up by a piece of rope. So what did we have to do? Cut the rope. I volunteered to shoot it first and grabbed an arrow from my quiver. I brought it close to the string and pulled back strongly before letting go with perfect precision. The arrow hit the rope and the wall fell down in front of us. Link wiped some sweat from his forehead and gave a sound of relief.

"Oh man thank Hylia we found that. I was afraid we would have to go back and try to figure out where the door was in all of the rooms we've already been in. And good shooting!" He complemented with a wink. I smiled and nodded, walking with him to the door. This new room had a new enemy in it. It looked sorta like a large statue. It rotated 360 degrees and had a large red eye on the front side of it. Link decided to test it out and when he got in the range of the statue's red eye it shot a hot laser at him. Link yelped and jumped back just in time.

"Okay Scarlett shoot that thing's eye."

"Got it."

I pulled another arrow back and shot its eye. It made a malfunctioning sound before it started smoking. The redness on the front died out and the thing stopped rotating. Link and I slapped our hands together in a high five and advanced on. I felt a smile coming on my face when we saw the third and final elder behind the statue. The old man's eyes were huge as he stared at us. They never went small when we approached him.

"U-Uh...Here you go!"

He handed us the last piece of the key and the pieces fit perfectly into place. The key weighed a ton so I just let Link hold it for me. He never said no to me because I always ask him sweetly in an innocent voice. Guilty as charged.

"The final room is up ahead young ones. Please do not die in there."

Uhh...Thanks for the advice old man…

We walked in a fast pace until we reached another wall that had a rope holding it up. Link shot this time and the wall fell with a loud noise filling the whole place. Behind it was a set of stairs and up the stairs was a large door with a huge lock on it. That must be the final room. What do you mean Scarlett, of course it is!

"I really hope that lock isn't taller than me because if so we're screwed," Link complained. It was true, he and I were kind of on the short side. He was somewhere from five foot seven to five foot nine while I was five foot six and a half. I'm a girl so that's understandable.

Back to the lock, we managed to reach up and unlock it barely. The giant lock fell off the door and it opened by itself in a creepy fashion. That wasn't a good sign. Link looked at me one last time for reassurance before entering the final room of the goron mines. It was so dark inside. I couldn't even see anything. The scary thing about it was that I could hear breathing in the room. And it wasn't Link's. I stretched my arms out to find the boy in green and when I did I stayed on his arm.

"You hear that too?" He whispered.

"Yes...It's really creeping me out," I whispered back to him.

 _Rahhhhhhhhhhhh!_

Holy. Eldin. That breathing we heard apparently was coming from a large beast that had fire covering its whole body. The thing lit up the room and gave a loud roar at us angrily. I don't know how but those magical letters appeared in front of us again.

 _ **Twilit Igniter: Fyrus**_

"Again! What are those letters!?"

"I don't know but we should probably start running!" Link yelled as the beast stomped towards us. A shining light blinded me for a second before the glare disappeared. The beast had a huge crystal in its head! I quickly took an arrow out in the spur of the moment and shot at it. A metal sound came from the crystal and the beast screamed and covered its head in agony. It turned around and stomped away from us. Looking down, a long chain was attached to its legs. What could that be? I turned my head when I heard Link gasp. He ran over to the chain and picked it up.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wait and don't let him fall on top of you!" Link yelled as he pulled on the chain with a grunt. Fyrus roared again and was soon falling down on the ground. Link then got out his sword and started hitting the krystal on its head. He still amazes me at how smart he is in these types of situations. I joined him until Fyrus started to get up again.

"Alright, you hit him with an arrow and I'll distract him and then make him fall down. Got it?" He instructed. I nodded and pulled out another arrow. Midna came out from my shadow and clapped her hands in entertainment.

" _You're really good with that bow and arrow Scarlett! You're like Katniss Everdeen!"_

I rose an eyebrow at her.

"Who?"

" _Nothing! Just shoot at the beast's head!"_ She screamed at me. I rolled my eyes and took my shot. The arrow hit the spot again and the process repeated again. We slashed his head until he got back up again. This time he was MAD. He stomped around so hard that the floor cracked and he kept slamming his fists at us. Link started to distract him again by weakly slashing away at his legs or throwing something at him but Fyrus wasn't falling for that again. Before Link could roll out of the way, the monster swung his arm and it made contact with Link's stomach. Link flew onto the ground painfully in front of me and coughed up some blood.

"Link!"

I crouched down and put my hands on his head and stomach.

"Are you alright!?"

He looked at me and his eyes were watering up from the amount of pain he was feeling. Blood poured out of his mouth and trailed down his chin. I wanted to help him so much, but Fyrus was stomping at us quickly. Link groaned and grabbed his bow. He grabbed an arrow from my quiver and shot Fyrus's head.

"Go...Just pull on the chain and then slash away…" He said quietly at me with tired eyes. I think he was starting to lose consciousness. I let out a small whimper and pulled him close in a hug before gathering up my courage and running over to Fyrus's chains. I took a strong hold on them and pulled with all my might. To my surprise, I was strong enough to make him fall and I took out my sword as soon as he hit the ground. I attacked the glowing crystal on its head with anger filling my mind from seeing Link like that. After three more hits, the huge monster laid its head on the ground and the fire covering its body died out. I exhaled and ran back over to Link who was holding his stomach and coughing. I patted his back lightly and rubbed it when he was done.

"You okay? Here, drink this potion." I took out a potion from our bag and unscrewed the top on it. He took the bottle and lifted it to his mouth, his hand shaking a bit. I wrapped my hand around his and helped him drink the whole thing.

"You good?" I asked again in worry.

"Yeah...Sorry Scarlett...I really messed up back there...I should've been more careful…" He said, his throat sounding sore. I gave him another hug and shook my head.

"Don't even say that Link. You kept us alive. You did great and you're so tough! That must've hurt a lot!" I said, still in concern for his health. He chuckled and sat up straight. He was still holding his stomach but he appeared okay. "It did. I felt like I was going to throw up! Just another situation where I'm glad that I have you by my side and that we bought those potions back in my village."

I gave him a smile and helped him up.

"Agreed. I guess we both got our asses kicked today huh?" I said, meaning my burned arm. He snorted and glanced at the small glass heart that appeared after Fyrus was defeated. He grinned and walked over to the heart. He then grabbed it and threw it down to break it. The glass heart's power, like the last time, made me feel even stronger and I felt like I could do anything right now! Meanwhile, Midna was on the other side of the room picking up a piece of what she wanted from the mountain.

" _That's two! One more to go! You guys ready to go?"_

We nodded and she teleported us just outside the mountain. It was dark outside and the moon shined high over Kakariko village. Everyone was inside sleeping in their beds and I totally envied them. I was so ready to just lay down and fall asleep because this day has been one of the longest ever. I smiled and turned around to tell Link that we should go to sleep but he was already setting up a blanket next to the spring in the village. I tilted my head and walked over to him.

"Link, what are you doing? Don't you wanna go sleep in a bed?"

"Nah, this grass will be fine. Plus I don't want to wake everybody up by knocking on their door," He told me as he laid down and patted the seat next to him with a light yawn. I blushed a little but I was too tired to even care. I laid down next to him and he covered the one blanket over the both of us. We were inches from each other. Inches! I've never slept with a guy before so this was unusual. Link laid down and turned to me with a smile.

"Good night Scarlett. You were awesome today…"

"Good night Link and you were too."

He smiled and closed his bright youthful eyes with a tired sigh leaving his lips. It wasn't long before he was asleep and quietly snoring next to me. I smiled as well and stared at his gloved hand beside me. It was open and unmoving while his face was as peaceful as can be. I raised my right hand and rested it on his open one before closing my eyes.

I feel asleep instantly next to my partner who I saw as my best friend now. And I have to say, it was the best sleep I've ever had in my life.

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Phew! Done! The dungeons take a long time to describe and all of that crap but I did get this done in a week so that's great! As for the dungeon, yeah I know I left out some stuff and I changed other things but seriously it's just the same thing the whole time lol. And I just decided that Link and Scarlett should have their little moments in this chapter. But Link! No! Why did you say, 'that's what friends are for'!? That will just put you in the friend zone dude! Amatuer mistake! Anyway, please review or comment on the story. I would greatly appreciate advice or constructive criticism. It always helps or if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Finally, thanks for reading and I will see you next time!**


	9. Chapter 9: Unexpected Sights

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! I'm still in the two week time span I've set for each chapter so I should meet the deadline since I have off this week. Speaking of that, I finally have a job! Yeah! I got a job at Dollar General and I really like it. All I have to do is run the cash register, stock, and then recover which is just move items to the front. The only things that are a pain in the ass are when people want cigarettes and when they pay with checks. Pain. In. The Ass. I don't smoke and probably never will so I don't know the brands so I have to walk across the store, unlock the damn thing, get the right one, scan it and then ask for their date of birth. As for the check, there's just so much information that you have to put into the computer. So the job is why this chapter didn't come earlier. Anyway, please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think of it! PLEASE ask me questions if you have them. I will answer them. And if you actually want to draw Link and Scarlett together than that would be awesome! And I would put the link to it in the chapter! You can do that or just wait until I develop Scarlett a little bit more. Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 9: Unexpected Sights

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

The sky was cloudy today so the sun did not shine right in my eyes when I woke up in the morning. The first thing I saw was my right hand resting in Link's palm. His warm fingers closed over mine and his face rested up against our two entwined hands. His snores were so quiet that all I heard was his light breathing. His chest rose and fell every so often while the rest of his body was unmoving. His dirty blonde-colored hair fell along his face in that perfect style it was always in. The only thing that I could not see were those sky-blue eyes of his. If you think about it, I couldn't see his eyes or the real natural sky because it was cloudy today. It actually looked like it could rain today. The clouds were starting to turn dark so that meant that they were getting heavy and would soon make rain drop from them. I tore my eyes away from the incoming storm and snuggled against our two hands. I pulled my legs up to my stomach and got comfortable again under the blanket. Link was right. This grass we were laying on was really soft and relaxing. I almost fell asleep again but heard a clap of thunder sound throughout the whole village. I jumped while Link's eyes opened slowly. I turned to him as he sat up, our fingers still together. He looked down and blushed like a crimson sunset.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" He blurted out loudly as he pulled his hand away. I would explain to him that I had put my hand in his last night in my sleepy daze, but it was so amusing watching him get all red like that. Usually he is so cool and calm in every situation.

"Hehe, don't apologize Link. You can't help what you do while you're sleeping and it's not like I minded. I do mind this damn thunder though. It scared the crap out of me. At least I had a really good sleep. I thought sleeping in a bed would be better but I think the grass proved me wrong. For now on I'll always listen to whatever you want to do Link!" I told him, though I'd probably not listen every time. He's gotta listen to me sometimes as well. The blonde boy shrugged his shoulders with a carefree smile and then his smile tugged down some. I was about to ask him what was wrong but he answered before I even asked.

"Hey, I'm going to wash up in the spring waterfall and wash my clothes as well. So if you need to go to the spring to make that burn on your arm feel better or just for a simple drink of water just make sure that you don't look at the waterfall okay?" He said with a laugh as he got up. He grunted and stretched his whole body, a quiet exhale leaving his mouth.

"Trust me, I won't! Why would I want to look at you while you're naked!?" I teased. He rolled his eyes and looked like he was about to say something smart but decided against it. He rubbed his muscular arms as he walked to the spring. I smiled and looked at the blanket. It looked hand-made and delicately knitted. It had a simple design of one of those goats from Link's village. In the bottom right was the boy's name in gold. It was so small that I didn't even see it before when we were in Hyrule Field. I didn't know Link could knit. I'm adding that to his "special skills" list.

 _'He has a lot of special skills doesn't he?'_ I thought to myself as I got up. I could've went back to sleep but then I would never get up if I did that. Yeah I'm pretty lazy but I'm seventeen. You should've expected that. Folding up the blanket, I rested it gently on the grass and looked around. As usual, the village was as deserted as when we first came here. The darkness of the coming storm gave it a ghost-like feel. In my opinion, the twilight version of the village was scarier. Speaking of the twilight realm, why was it so scary? Midna was from it but it's not like she was this horrible evil creature. She was just an ordinary being like every other race in this world. Hylian, Goron, Imp, we were all the same in some kind of way. I'm thinking too much about this. I shook my head and examined the burn mark on my left arm. It was still red but didn't look as bad as it was yesterday. Let me tell you, that hurt more than the time I accidently stabbed myself in the hip with one of daddy's Hylian spears. It's not like it was my fault. Something knocked it over from the wall and it fell on top of one of the counters we had in our basement, which was where dad had set up his training room. And I didn't see it when I was walking by and it struck me right on my right hip. It wasn't bad enough to leave a scar luckily. That would've made me even more self-conscious than I already am now. I've always been that way and I can't help but feel nervous around other people. Mom told me once that her great grandmother used to be the same way when she was a little girl. So I'm guessing the trait skips a couple generations.

I swallowed after yawning and realized my tongue and throat were super dry from the sleep I just had. What time was it anyway? I glanced at the edge of the spring and remembered what Link said to me before he left to go wash up. _Don't look at the waterfall._ As long as I followed his instructions nothing _bad_ would happen. Walking to the spring, I could hear the splash from the waterfall from a few feet away. The spring contained a small waterfall but there was a large one behind it on a higher ledge. I kept my eyes down as I cupped some water in my hands and brought them to my dry lips. This water was the best, no question. It was always cold and it had special healing abilities. I don't know about you but that's badass! I brought some water to my arm and it stung a little bit but I felt my happiness surge when the redness faded back to my original skin color. Gosh, just imagine what we would do if we didn't have these springs. We would be drinking like ten potions every single day!

 _Boom!_

I screamed again from the sudden loudness of thunder and jumped up. Ahead of me was Link washing his hair with his eyes closed. He was completely naked and his clothes laid on the bank a few feet away. Damn you thunder! I don't have to tell you that I blushed or passed out. Wait a minute, yeah I do. I freaking passed out from seeing Link naked. His upper body fit so perfectly with his fit hips and strong thighs. Those thighs would absolutely crush a watermelon in two seconds flat...his legs were also long and strong with fine golden hair adorning it...And his groin...When I saw that that's when I lost consciousness.

Immediately.

Look, I've never seen a dick before. But the ones in our anatomy book back in Castle Town were MUCH SMALLER than Link's was. And I don't even think he was...What was it called? Elect? No...Erect! Yeah, erect! Oh my gods! Shut up! I'm still innocent okay! I haven't even had my first kiss! Oh Farore! I'm so embarrassed!

I don't know how long I was unconscious but when I woke up Link was shaking me awake. I gasped and looked down at his body. However, he had his usual green outfit on again. The only thing different was that he was holding the green hat in his hands instead of wearing it on his head. I looked back up again and our eyes met. He tilted his head in confusion and raised his blonde eyebrows.

"Are you okay Scarlett? Don't tell me you were so tired that you fell asleep while drinking some water..."

Okay good, he didn't see me. "No...Y-Yes! I accidently fell asleep because I was still tired! That's what happened!" I said in panic.

"Ooooookkkkaayyyyy?" He said, letting the word run on his tongue longer than it should have. That meant he thought I was acting either really dumb or really weird right now. Another shot of thunder sounded itself through Hyrule and I glared at the sky. I stood up quickly and pointed my gloved finger at the dark clouds that threatened to pour rain all over Link and I. Link, who was crouching, tilted his head up at me and got even more confused as I started screaming at the storm.

"You! This is all your fault! You ruined my innocence you son of a bitch!" I screamed as loud as I could. In response, a bolt of lightning shot down in the distance followed by the sound of the thing I was screaming at. Link stood up with me and brushed some water from his wetted hair.

"Are you sure you're okay? You haven't gone crazy on me have you?" He asked me with a small laugh following. I turned around and looked at his amused face. There was no way I was telling him what I saw. I would keep this secret hidden until the day I die. But I had to pick myself up. I had to get it together so he would think I really was sane. It took me a couple of seconds but I managed to pull it off. I laughed along with him and waved my hand down.

"Oh yeah I just really hate the thunder because the sound always scared me as a kid."

"Oh," He said with a thoughtful look, "that makes sense. Sorry for thinking you were acting weird."

Oh man, now he's apologizing. This lie just gets deeper and deeper doesn't it? Except the part about thunder scaring me as a kid. That's all real.

"Oh no, that's okay. I act weird sometimes. That just who I am. Um...How was your bath?" I asked him as I began to sweat from stress. That's all I could think of to ask him. Instead of thinking I was being even more unusual than I already was he grinned and waved his hair in both directions. Small water droplets flew from his soft blonde bangs as he brushed his hair with his hand again. "The water feels great! It's so cold and it's really warm here in the village so it creates the perfect mix. Do you want to take one before we leave? I mean, you don't have too. You smell nice actually. Are you wearing perfume?"

My eyes widened for a second in surprise. I wasn't wearing any perfume that I know of. I looked over at the patch of grass where I had laid the blanket and noticed that there were a couple of beautiful-looking lily flowers growing right next to it. I guess some of its scent rubbed off on me. Sweet!

"No, why does it smell good?"

"Yeah you smell like vanilla!" He exclaimed with glee. I twirled a lock of my hair and giggled out of happiness. It's not like I had intended to smell good but the compliments are nice. A few childish noises made us both look at the village and we saw two of the kids from Link's village playing around with a stick. How boring...One of them was a boy with a red headband and a girl who looked annoyed. Link turned to me and nodded his head over to them.

"Hey, why don't we go over there and talk to them. They seem pretty bored right now."

"Mmm...okay. What do you think we would-"

The sound of a horn cut me off and what happened next was horrible. Those green ogre things we fought in the Goron mines rode through the village on armed hogs. Link and I could easily take them out but it was the huge one that galloped after them that got me taking a step back. The kid with the red headband, Talo, ran inside one of the houses while the girl froze in place. Link and I looked at each other before we started running towards her. The green bulblins screamed at her in their own disgusting language and lowered their hands to grab her.

"We're not gonna make it!" I yelled as dust blew past us. Link didn't say anything. He just kept running with an angry expression on his face. I expected to see them grab the girl but out of the corner of my eye I saw another one of the kids, Colin, run towards her and push her out of the way. That's when the larger bulblin charged up to him and grabbed him by the collar. I gasped while Link growled. The large bulblin looked down at us, almost like he was sneering at us, and then rode out of the village with another blow to his large cornucopia-shaped horn.

"Son of a-..." Link yelled angrily before whistling a tune in his fingers. I recognized it as the tune he used when calling for Epona. Sure enough, the horse arrived in mere seconds and stopped in front of us. Link got a running start and hopped on her back. He then grabbed her reins and I could tell he was about to go after them without me. I stopped him before he could go.

"No! I'm coming with you!" I said to him with consternation in my eyes. He stared at me for a second before shaking his head.

"No! It's too dangerous! Their leader is stronger than the others, I can't risk you getting hurt!" He screamed, pulling on the reigns to get Epona out of my way. I blocked him again and he huffed.

"Scarlett! I don't have time for this! You're-"

"I'm going Link! I'm not going to let you go in alone. Besides, I'll hit them with arrows while you focus on riding Epona! Just let me go!"

He thought about it for a second with a frown before conceding his argument. He nodded and extended his hand to me. I gripped it strongly and slung myself behind him. I grabbed my bow from the end of my boot and took some arrows from my bag. That's where I would keep my bow for now on. It was fast and easy to get out in situations like these. With a grunt, Link got Epona moving after the invading bulblins. Let me tell you, Epona was much faster than these dumbasses. We rode up behind them and I drew back my arrow. I let the arrow fly and it struck one of them in the head, making he and the hog fall to the ground. I switched sides and did the same with the bulblins on the left side. Their king was up ahead so I aimed for his head. I pulled my arrow back but instead of shooting I had to duck when another arrow shot over my head. I looked in the direction of the shooter and saw two more hogs riding towards us.

"Oh shit!" Link yelled as he maneuvered around them. Everything went so fast that I could barely breathe. My heart was pumping so fast that I thought it would shut down on me. However, I calmed myself down and shot the last two riders. I kind of feel bad for the hogs since it's not really their fault all of this is happening. I turned back to their king-...you know what let's just call him King Bulblin! I turned back to King Bulblin and saw that he had reached some sort of bridge. He rode to the edge on the other end and then stopped once we made it on the bridge as well.

"I think this is the Bridge of Eldin..." Link muttered to me through heavy breaths. I took in his words and looked over the edge. All there was was darkness. You literally couldn't see the bottom. That meant if you fell, you were definitely going to die! I looked away and wrapped my arms around Link. I think my hands were shaking but I'm not sure if that was fear of heights or from the rush of shooting all of those bulblin archers. Link put his hand on top of mine and gently tightened it.

"It's okay. I know this is scary but we can do this. It looks like he's going to charge at us and try to knock us off. What we're going to do is I'm going to ride straight in the middle and when you feel you have the chance I want you to shoot him anywhere where it would distract him. Then, I can knock him off the bridge with my sword. Don't worry about hitting Colin because he just put him on the side of the bridge wall so he could kill us. If we do this right it will work."

I looked down at the bow in my hands.

"What if I don't hit him?"

"Then he might hit us and we both fall to our deaths," He said with a small smile. I shook my head and pressed closer to his back. "That's not funny..."

"Don't even worry about it Scarlett. I trust you," He said with a smile as he looked back at me. I stared into his eyes and slowly nodded. "Okay...I trust you too..." I whispered with growing courage building up. I looked behind the boy in green and saw that King Bulblin was charging at us. I tapped Link's shoulder quickly and he saw what was coming at us.

"Ready!? Here we go!" He told me as we started moving faster and faster. I took a deep breath and pulled back my arrow. I scanned my target thoroughly and found that one of the spots on his shoulder was bare and not covered in rusty armor. That's where I was going to hit him. I narrowed my eyes and exhaled slowly before shooting. It was like the arrow shot out in slow motion. The enemy was a couple of yards away from us and the arrow I shot at him went through the air inch by inch. Link kept us in the middle of the bridge as we both watched my sharp arrow pierce his shoulder. Green blood spewed out as he cried out in pain. He hunched over on his hog while link steered right. Once Epona and the hog were right next to each other Link grabbed his sword from the sheath on his back and swung it at the large bulblin. With a skin smacking sound the king was knocked over the side and roared as he fell to his death. I feel guilty for saying this, but never have I been so happy to see something fall to their death. That doesn't mean I want to see it again!

"Oink! Oink!..." The King's hog stopped in its tracks and sniffed at the ground. I guess he was happy that that huge weight was lifted off his back.

"We did it! We did it! Holy shit! We did it!" I kept repeating while laughing. Link just smiled and gasped a little when Epona raised up on her hind legs and neighed. I gripped Link and glared at his horse.

"Epona are you trying to make me fall off!?" We both yelled at her at the same time. She snorted at us and we rolled our eyes. We galloped to the other end of the bridge and hopped off of the horse to make sure Colin was okay. He was tied to a pole and looked like he was unconscious. It looks like he and I both got in the same situation today. Though, his was a little bit more different than mine. Link shook the little boy until he opened his blue eyes.

"Hey bud, you okay?" Link asked slowly and calmly. Colin blinked a couple of times before nodding and hugging the both of us.

"Thank you guys! Thank you so much! I tried my best to get away from him but he was too strong and hit me in the head. See?" He tilted his head and there was a small purple bump on his temple. I clicked my tongue and checked it to see if he had a concussion. It didn't look that bad but I still think he should go to Renaldo so he can wrap a bandage around it.

"Come on," I said to him, "Let's get that bandaged up."

The three of us traveled back to the village where the shaman and the other kids were waiting. Beth had worry in her eyes when she saw us arrive at the front gate and Talo had a look of guilt on his face. Renaldo stared at us with his dark brown eyes as we walked up to him. He was much taller than either of us so we had to look up as he spoke.

"Thank you young ones for bringing the boy back and running those bulblins out of our village. They have been a real problem ever since a few weeks ago. The goron chief has recently contacted me and said that they would began protecting the village again. So all that is left is for these young ones to head home yes?" He asked us. He never showed any emotion but his words were always passionate. Link and I looked at each other because honestly we didn't have the time to take them back to the village. And what were we going to do anyway? Ride there and then ride back one kid at a time? I don't think so. Plus that would waste a whole day and I don't think we can afford to do that. Midna keeps nagging that if we keep wasting time then we'll all be doomed so I'd rather be safe than sorry. We explained to the dark-skinned man our dilemma and he nodded.

"Ah...I see. Well I would be happy to house them until you figure out something. If you think of anything I'll be here. But for now, it would be wise for you to go on your way. We don't want the whole world to be destroyed," He said as if he were joking. Nobody laughed. We thanked him and walked back to where the spring was. I stepped in the shallow end and splashed some water on my face because I was started to sweat. Link cleared his throat and crossed his arms.

"Are you sure you don't want to take that bath before we go on? It felt really good this morning."

I turned to voice my reply but then it started to rain on us. I laughed under my breath and pointed at my sky.

"I think the sky's got me covered."

 _ **"Oh Young heroes!"**_ We looked at the center of the spring and the spirit of Eldin was floating above it. This spirit was in the shape of a large eagle as opposed to Faron who was in the shape of a monkey. Link and I brought our attention to him and listened for anything important.

 _ **"I attempted to speak to you together but failed when the Heroine passed out because-"**_

"Because I was still tired! That's why! Now come on Eldin! You don't have to talk about that!" I stopped him. The great spirit stared at me with pupiless, glowing eyes before moving on to what he was originally going to say. Link better not question me about this later on because I don't think I can take it. Basically, all that the Eldin spirit told us was that we needed to go to the Lanayru Region which was where Lake Hylia was. He told us we would find whoever we were looking for there. And that's all I needed to hear. There was no sense in standing there and listening to Eldin go on and on about how we're the heroes or something like that. Though, I do like the title of being a "Heroine". It's pretty cool! I never get so many compliments back at home! Like I've said before, everyone in Castle Town is kind of a snob. They think they're better than you even though they don't know your socio-economic status. It's very annoying.

 _ **"Go on young heroes! Save Hyrule from the evils of the Twilight. For now, farewell."**_ Eldin said before turning into a ball and disappearing in the midst of the spring. I turned to the teenage boy next to me and ran my hand along my hair. He smiled and nodded, completely forgetting what Eldin was about to say, and then glared at one of the buildings in the village. I touched his arm and followed his eyes to the two-story structure.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked. He cracked his knuckles and started walking over to the building.

"Before we go, I have some unfinished business with Malo. I'm gonna kick his ass!" He said to me as he headed towards the shop. I sighed and picked up the blanket we use to sleep before following him inside. The shop was way cleaner than the last time we went in here. The walls were painted and small posters of Malo were all over the place. Why advertise in your own place? And how did they get all of this done in one day!? Link stomped to the counter and leaned over it. He then gritted his teeth and pointed over the side of it.

"You owe me money buddy! The price for those shields was outrageous! You better give me some of my money back!" He yelled at the little boy. I leaned over the counter as well and the boy did not look intimidated or frightened in the slightest at the sight of Link's anger. There's a difference between being angry and being pissed so maybe I should say "Link's pissyness". Malo and I listened to Link rant on and on for ten minutes before he finally went silent and stared at the little five year-old.

"Tell you what," Malo started, "I'll give you a bag of bombs if you shut the hell up and forget this ever happened," He told Link as he lifted the bag on the table. Link's blue eyes widened as he checked to see what was inside.

"How many are in here?"

"Thirty. Now get out I have work to do. Come back when you want to actually spend some money. And you!" He pointed to me and I stiffened. "I'll be contacting you when I turn eighteen."

Oh for the love of Hylia, that's so gross. My mouth fell open and I left the shop without a word. I can't even think about that. That kid needs a good spanking or something. Link followed and closed the door behind him. He shook his head and called for Midna. The twilight imp appeared from my shadow and rubbed her eyes sleepily. She must've been asleep this whole time. I was wondering why she wasn't teasing me for what happened earlier. I'm sure I would've gotten a week's worth of criticism from her.

"Hey Midna, can you hold this bag of bombs for us?" Link asked quietly, trying not to sound too loud or annoying. She nodded and snapped her fingers, making the bomb bag disappear into thin air.

 _"It's done. I'm gonna go back to sleep..."_ She mumbled as my shadow absorbed her shape and form entirely. Once she was gone Link looked at me and then glared at the shop doors again.

"I swear that kid is more trouble than he looks. Contact you when he's eighteen, my ass. You'll already be with someone so it wouldn't even matter," He said as we walked back to Epona. She was eating grass and weeds like there was no tomorrow. She must be really hungry! I don't blame her. She did just outrun the bulblins and their leader. Back to the boy next to me, my pointed ears perked up at his words and my lips turned up in amused smile. "Oh yeah? How do you know I'll be with someone?" I asked him. He looked down at the ground and started to stutter. "W-Well...You're very...I mean...Of course you'll be with some guy before that little brat turns eighteen!"

He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked faster to his horse. What was that all about? He seems very flustered right now. Ugh, crap a raindrop just hit my eye. I rubbed the water from my eyes and looked up at the sky. It was raining pretty hard right about now. I had forgotten it was because we had to go save Colin. Running over to Link and Epona, I covered my head and got on her back.

"Damn, it's really pouring isn't it?" He said to me. I nodded and he got us moving out of the village. "Hey Scarlett, all of this rain is making me all wet!"

I punched him in the arm for being a pervert and he laughed as we headed for the Lanayru Province. The rain hit our faces like jets so we both kept them down and low to keep that from happening. It was like the rain was sideways at how hard it was falling.

"I knew this would be a big storm!" I yelled as I held onto Link's waist. He groaned and looked back at me. "You weren't kidding! But I think we're almost there! The only bad part about it is that we'll have to turn back into wolves and find those tears again I suspect. I think this will be the last time though. If I remember correctly, Faron told us that there were three spirited springs throughout Hyrule right? So this one should be the last! But...being a wolf isn't that bad right?"

I replied to him after pushing my face closer to his back so water wouldn't hit me as much.

"It's not but it just feels weird to me and it taste disgusting every time I eat something."

He nodded and mentioned lightly that all I've eaten as a wolf were those twilight bugs. He had a point.

Up ahead, there was a large wall that went up the whole sky like a huge wall. It was dark and had glowing designs on it. It acted as a deflection to the rain because the rain stopped about half a mile from it. When Epona ran us into the dry vicinity, Link patted her to stop a few yards away from the wall and she did. He and I shook the water from our hair and clothes and then grabbed our bags.

"Wait for us girl. Here." Link pulled a carrot from his pocket and let the beautiful horse eat it from his hand. He rubbed her snout with a sigh and then backed away from her.

"Come on Scarlett, let's get this over with," He said. I tilted my head and jogged up next to him. "Hey are you okay?" I asked him. He nodded with another sigh and tightened the gloves on his hands as he talked. "Yeah, I just hate leaving Epona alone by herself. Back before this all happened I took care of her everyday and raised her. I gave her baths every day, I fed her, she helped me with the ranch, and I took her out hunting with me every so often. She's not used to being on her own for this long and that kills me. It's almost like she's my child," He laughed lowly. I continued to listen to him until we made it to the twilight wall.

"I don't know, I'm being too protective."

"No I think it's pretty cool that you care so much for her," I said with admiration. He made a sound with his mouth that sounded like a snort and started moving his arms around and jogging in place. I really hate asking so many questions but I just have to this time.

"What are you doing?"

"We're about to be turned into wolves so I want to enjoy my arms and legs while I still have them, especially these babies," He said as he moved his thumbs up and down. I giggled and did the same before Midna appeared and screamed at us for wasting time.

"I thought you were asleep!" I yelled at her.

 _"I was, but not anymore! What the hell are you doing!? Get your asses moving!"_ She floated behind us and pushed us to the solid wall of the darkness. Since she didn't have much power in our world how was she touching us? I didn't protest but Link was wiggling and thrashing around like someone was taking him to prison. It was funny to look at him scream and yell out words that didn't make sense at all. Midna then flew into the portal and her hair had transformed into a large hand like the last time and took us into the twilight zone...

 **(Link's POV)**

I know I was acting like a baby when I was whining and struggling against Midna but I still had to pee! Peeing as a dog is freaking weird. You have to sniff around in the right place. I don't know why but you just get this sense of where you should and where you shouldn't pee. And then you circle around like three times for some reason. It's like someone is controlling your mind and you're just sitting there and taking it. Then, you have to lift up your leg AND THEN pee. Why do all of that when I can just find a bush and piss all over it!? I swear, it's all bullshit. I know I know, Link you're acting like a whiny bitch and you should stop. Well you try turning into a wolf! Your bones crack and break when reshaping your whole body and things grow while other things become smaller. It does not hurt as much now since I'm used to it but the first time it hurt like hell.

Routinely with every time we transform, your vision goes dark for a second before it suddenly enhances to depths the human eye can't match. Your hearing also becomes greater so anything said about me behind my back I'll hear it.

"I freaking hate doing that," Scarlett said to me as we both pulled ourselves up from the dark hard ground. It was a little harder with paws as hands and feet. Looking around, the air was filled with the familiar colors of dark yellow and black. They were like shards of diamonds that floated around. There was no telling if it was bad for you if you breathed it in.

"That's better! Why don't you two just stay in this world so I can be in my physical form all time?" Midna suggested with a toothy grin. I didn't respond to her. If I did all she would do is tease me about not being a human anymore. Instead, I pawed my way over to where I though Lake Hylia was. I've never been there but the creek that runs through my village is connected to it. That's obviously not going to help me find it but it's a fun fact!

Everything in the twilight realm is darker and dimmer than in the light world so even with my canine sight it's very difficult to see where I'm going. The good thing about Hyrule is that they have signs that tell you where you are. That way, if we ever get lost we at least have an idea on how to get back to where we started or if we're really close to where we're going. Speaking of signs, here's one now. It says:

 _ **Lake Hylia - Right**_

 _ **Castle Town - ^^^**_

The three triangles next to "Castle Town" mean that it's straight ahead. I don't know why they don't just paint _**"Up ahead"**_ on there.

"So Lake Hylia is to the right so we should-...huh? What's wrong?" I asked as I looked back at Scarlett. Her big green eyes were looking sadly at her hometown in the distance.

"Nothing...it's just my home is right there and I can't go back and tell my mom and dad that I'm okay because I'm a wolf. Gods, that sounds so ridiculous but it's true. I'm sorry Link I guess I'm a little homesick. I feel guilty for not being able to tell them I was safe when I left."

"How about when we restore the light to this area we take a small visit there so you can tell them you're alright. What do you think they're doing right now?" I asked as we walked to the right. She shook her head in thought. "Probably crying every day and looking for me." She then gave a sigh and sat down on her hind legs. I stopped as well and sat next to her. If she needed a minute then I was going to give it to her. She looked up at the sky and her eyes stayed there. It was raining in this realm as well but not as hard as in the light world. The wind blew at us gently and I shivered a bit from the coldness of the breeze. However, my nose suddenly picked up something peculiar. I looked in the direction the wind came from and saw a small item in the distance on the ground. I raised my paw and put it on Scarlett's back as if to tell her I would be right back and then went to go investigate. I walked over to the tiny item that was on the ground and leaned my face closer to it. It looked like a bag of medicine or fruit. For some reason it looked amazingly familiar...Where have I seen that bag? I sniffed at it and it smelled strongly of Ordon pumpkin. I closed my eyes and my mind flashed automatically to Ilia and her smiling face. If I was a human, I would have gasped. I quickly took in the scent and then looked up. The scent trail didn't go towards Lake Hylia, but towards Castle Town. I turned back and Scarlett gave me a confused look.

"What?"

"I think I found Ilia's bag! It's over there and the scent leads to Castle Town!" I told her in excitement. She started smiling again and I felt my heart become larger at the sudden change in her mood.

"Wait, so we're going to Castle Town!?"

"Yep! Come on, let's go! You can't talk to your parents, but you can at least check on them to see if they're okay!"

We both started running on all fours, following the trail Ilia's bag gave me. It wasn't hard to notice that Scarlett was running faster than me. She really misses her parents huh...Well hopefully we can find what we're both looking for in the capital of Hyrule.

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! That took way faster than I thought it would! Now I have to read over it and edit it but that should only take about an hour. I tried to make this as fast as I could so y'all wouldn't get mad at me. Before I tell you to review or comment on the chapter let me just say that we just need to pray for the people in France right now since they've just been attacked again. If you don't want to pray then just offer your condolences for them. Okay, please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think of it! Please don't be afraid to ask any questions. I will answer them. Again, if you want to draw Link and Scarlett together I will show the readers how to look at that and could really help your page of wherever; DeviantArt, Tumblr, wherever. Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	10. Chapter 10: Family Check-up

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter of my Legend of Zelda story! Now we are doing great! I bet we can get over 10,000 views on this story! Right now we're almost at 3,000 and that's awesome since I basically just started the story. But anyway, I'm going to start getting into Scarlett's home and her environment so you can imagine her better. If you can't imagine what she looks like, I would say she looks like Leafa from Sword Art Online. Not the outfits or anything but her eyes and hair color. I can draw her if you want me to and then maybe put a link to instagram or something lol. And if you want to draw her or Link I would love to see it and I'm sure the readers would as well! That would be badass and I know a lot of you have artistic talent. Okay please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think of it so far! Is it good? Is it bad? Does it need work or is it perfect? Let me know but no flames. I will delete those. Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 10: Family Check-up

 **(Link's POV)**

My front legs worked with my hind ones as we ran to Castle Town. The tip of Hyrule Castle was clearly visible but felt like it got farther away every time we reached another set of yards in our footing. Scarlett was visibly excited in front of me. She was even sprinting faster than me with her eyes locked on the front gate of Castle Town. Believe me, I was trying to keep up with her but I couldn't.

"Scarlett! Wait up!" I called out to her when she got ahead of me by a few feet. She looked back at me and slowed down so that I could match her speed again.

"Sorry," She laughed. I'm sure an embarrassed blush would've hit her cheeks if she wasn't a wolf right now. "I'm just excited about seeing my parents again. I've been worrying about them ever since I left but it was just a lingering thought in the back of my mind. But now that I see my hometown right in front of me it's like a new energy has evolved inside my body and given me newly found strength to run faster and longer. Does that make any sense at all?" She asked me, her green canine eyes looking at me with passion in them. I barked at her with a nod and then said actual words. "I understand completely. I'm happy that you're happy again! You seemed really down for a moment there but now you're like a changed light bulb whose light is shining bright once again. Damn it, that sounded so lame. I'm not really good with words…" I whispered to myself while Scarlett laughed.

"Nah, you're a fucking poet Link!" She said to me as we ran over a hilly plain. Below, I could see the dark wood of the bridge that connected the town with the rest of Hyrule. There were four entrances but I bet this one was most used by travelers and merchants.

"There it is! There it is! Oh my gosh, I can't even believe it!" Scarlett chanted with happy barks following it. I've never had this feeling, but I'm actually getting really happy for her! Okay, before you say or think 'oh Link! You stupid bastard! Ilia's been your friend for years and you've never felt happy for her!?' I get it. But Ilia just...I don't know...She always seemed kind of pissed off at something. Like she would get mad at a small thing and then stay that way for the rest of the day. Now, being the innocent uninformed guy I was I thought all women were like that! Yeah, I admit it! She was the only girl in the village who was my age so I thought this was a life-long thing and I eventually got used to it and started liking her...Wait did I just admit that I like Ilia? Son of a bitch...Yeah I guess I still have a crush on her but...now that I've met Scarlett...I've discovered that not all girls are like Ilia. In fact, Scarlett is the complete opposite. She's happy a lot, she's a smartass at just the right moment which I find admirable because I myself am a historic smartass, and she also doesn't do what she feels like. She stays by the rules! Or whatever...I'm not saying I have a crush on Scarlett okay, I'm just saying that my crush on Ilia may be a bit premature...Now that I'm traveling across Hyrule I have so many other options! But, for now, I'm still going to keep my crush and see what happens. Umm...what was I doing again? Why am I running? Oh yeah! We're going to Castle Town. My bad!

"Almost there!" Scarlett yelled, bringing me more into the situation. Being a wolf, I have more time to think about things so I daydream more in this form than in my human form.

"What will the people think when they see us?" I asked Scarlett but instead got a slap to both of my furry ears. I winced and tilted my head up at Midna. Oh yeah...she's been on my back the whole time…

" _They're not going to see you dumbass! Don't you remember they're in their own world not this one. God, you have a short memory. Oh wait! You're a blonde. Nevermind that makes sense!"_ She teased. I growled my sharp teeth and snapped at her but she just slapped the tip of my nose which hurt more than it should have. Scarlett just watched us with nonchalant emotion that she was probably keeping to herself.

" _Hey don't get snippy with me!"_ Midna scolded me with another laugh like she was joking about the whole thing. I rolled my eyes and growled again. "I wasn't talking to you. I was asking Scarlett a question…" I said lowly.

" _Aww, are you on your man period again Link? That seems to happen a lot when you're with me~"_

"Well maybe it wouldn't if you would just shut the fuck up for once!" I replied to her.

"Alright guys, stop it. Midna stop getting Link riled up. You're doing it on purpose just to make him angry at you and Link just ignore it okay?" Scarlett told the both of us calmly. My eyes went wide for a second at her words. Looking down at the ground, I mentally slapped myself for listening to Midna. How could I be so immature? I looked back up at Scarlett and she was staring back at me. I could tell what she was thinking.

'Are you okay? Don't let her get to you,' She said to me mentally. I could tell by the look in her eyes. I nodded and replied to her with a look of my own. 'Yeah I'm good. She just pisses me off sometimes.' She made a laughing noise and then stared straight ahead while Midna looked back and forth at us suspiciously.

When we made it to the bridge that led to the entrance into Castle Town Scarlett stopped and sat down like a normal dog would. I stopped as well and looked at her in concern.

"You okay?" I asked. She shook her head and then nodded at me. "Y-Yeah...sorry…" She murmured as we both walked through the large doors into the capital city. Inside, all you could see was an enormous amount of blue flames. Those were the citizens that lived here. If I smelled the air too strongly than I could see them, but right now I was focused on Ilia's scent which lingered on my nose like a fine perfume. The bag itself was a bag for medicine but it smelled strongly of Ordon pumpkins. That's what Ilia always smelled like. It wasn't like an ordinary pumpkin. It was more sweet like a pumpkin pie. I guess that's what made me attracted to her in the first place; her scent. It's always calmed me down or softened me up if I was feeling stressed on a certain day. And now it was leading me right to her. It sucks that I'm in my wolf form though. I wish I could find her as myself. As the guy she's known for years, Link.

"So this is where I heard Shade call out to me and then I left with him to go find you. See, I was standing right here. Well...sitting I mean," Scarlett mentioned to me as she sat on the side of the walkway. I listened to her while also thinking to myself. Again, I seem to be doing that a lot lately.

"And this is the supermarket I used to go to almost every day just to see what new things they had on sale," The female wolf said to me as we went by a bunch of blue flames. Going past them, I followed Scarlett into a large area with a huge fountain in the middle of it! I couldn't even believe it! It was magnificent! Sensing my wonder, Scarlett jumped up on the edge of the fountain and raised her paw in presentation.

"And this is where my friends and I used to hang out. We would sit by the fountain and just talk or we would find some money to throw in it so we could make a wish."

I tilted my head at her.

"A wish?"

"Yeah, when you throw a coin in a fountain you make a wish and hope it comes true. Though, it almost never does. Maybe when we become human again I can show you in person what I mean."

"Okay…That sounds like fun," I said happily. She nodded and turned to the buildings surrounding the fountain. "And these are all of the shops and restaurants in the town. They're pretty expensive though so we only go to them maybe once a month. And then straight ahead over here, as you can see, is Hyrule Castle where Princess Zelda lives."

"Have you ever met her?" I asked her in curiosity. She sighed and shook her head.

"Sadly no, but I've always been curious as to what she looks like or how she acts. Is she mean or is she kind? I have no idea! So it would be cool to meet her since she's like our age and all...maybe a year older."

"I see...You know all of this is so awesome to me. I've never been in such a crowded place like this and all of it just blows my mind. We didn't have any of this stuff back in my village. We don't have restaurants or large fountains or a big supermarket. We have one shop and it's family owned. But here, it's like a whole new experience. I can't even believe it! Would you believe me if I said before I became the 'Chosen Hero' or whatever I was supposed to present a gift to the princess from our village. It was going to be the sword that I wield today. It's weird huh?"

"Yeah it is. But I'm glad you didn't give it to her. If you didn't have it you couldn't save my ass from all of the monsters that attack us on a daily basis," She laughed softly, "Also, this place might seem awesome now, but if you're like me who has lived in it for seventeen years then you would think it was nothing special. I would give it...two paws out of five," She said as she raised both of her front paws. I laughed and she put them back down. I forgot to mention that Scarlett's funny as well.

"Anyway, is uhh...your friend's scent still on your nose?" She asked in a quiet tone. I rose my head in the air and sniffed once before the scent of _her_ came rushing back to me. I nodded and turned to one of the roads leading to a different entrance of the town. I instructed Scarlett to follow me and we both walked in that direction. The scent trail was straight ahead for a couple of minutes before it suddenly made a sharp left turn. Scarlett and I looked to see where it was and the scent trail led to a hidden bar around the corner. I started to walk down it but Scarlett's voice stopped me. I looked back at her and she was backing away.

"Umm...I'm going to go see if my parents okay. Just wait here when you get finished and I'll come back," She said before running down one of the streets in the opposite direction. I watched her go in disappointment before turning back to the bar. I took a deep breath before walking down the stone stairs. In front of the bar was a loose sign on the wall that said,

 _ **Telma's Bar**_

 _ **If you came to collect taxes, fuck off!**_

Who the hell is Telma? Guess I'll find out in a minute…

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Walking down the familiar road to my house I felt my body start to shake. Why was I getting nervous? All I was doing was checking on my parents to see if they were okay. No biggie. But I shook anyway like I was constantly vibrating. I rounded the corner and looked to see if anyone was in front of my house. Nope, nobody. The street was practically empty but that was to be suspected at this time of day. I walked faster to my front porch and looked up. Since we lived in a largely populated area, everyone's houses were close together. My house was a two-story one that looked more like an apartment if you didn't know any better. Our front door was made of a fine shiny wood with glass embezzled in the center of it. On both sides of the door, two small circular windows sat quietly in their place.

"Everything looks the same…" I muttered. I reached up and held my front legs against the wall as I looked through the window. I could see my mom sitting at the table reading something. Moving back down, I turned to the door and opened it with my two paws which was no easy task! The door creaked open and my mom looked at it as I entered my home. She couldn't see me so she probably thought it was just the wind. Rising up from the table, she went to close the door before sitting back down. I hopped in the seat next to her and looked at her. Her fine white face was soft like it had always been but it was stained with past tears. How long has she been crying over the past few days? Her bright ruby-colored hair was in a messy ponytail while her greenish-blue eyes stared down at something on the table. I turned my head and saw an album of photos. The photos were of me from the past several years. I recognized it immediately. One time, I managed to somehow get a boyfriend in middle school and when I brought him over she insisted on showing him my baby photos! Like mom! Could you embarrass me enough!?

"Find any you want to put on there?" A deep manly voice asked. I looked at the doorway leading to the living room and saw my dad standing there with sadness planting itself all over his handsome face. His hair was short and had more of a lighter redness to it than my Mother had. His eyes were bright green, like mine, and his skin was only slightly tan. He was also tall as well. I would say he was about six foot two if I had to guess. Hehe, he would always bang his forehead on the roof of the doorway and would then cuss and whine about it until my mom or I kissed it for him. Yeah, he's a big softie even though he's a Hylian soldier.

"No...They're all so perfect…" My mom replied to him with a sad smile. He came to sit next to her and I watched as they looked at the album together. I then looked at the other stuff on the table and found that they were making a "lost" paper for me in an attempt to find me. That only made me want to tell them I was okay even more…

"My baby girl...She just disappeared into thin air without a trace on that day. I didn't even see what happened...We need to find her Ian…" She whispered with tears starting to fill her eyes again. My dad hugged her tightly and rubbed his hand over her hair gently.

"We will Kate. I know we will. Scarlett's a strong girl. If we don't find her, I know she'll find her way back home all by herself. I wouldn't worry just yet," He said, trying anything to make his wife feel better. It seemed to work as she wiped her face and kissed him passionately.

"I know...I just hope she's safe," She said back to him. I watched them up close with tears threatening to fall down my cheeks as well. I gave off a canine-like whine as I rubbed my eyes and jumped off the chair. I walked to the front door and looked back at them. Seeing them like this just broke my heart into little tiny pieces. When we turn back into humans again the first thing we're doing is coming back here. With a sigh, I opened the front door again and walked outside.

"Why does this door keep coming open?" My mom asked as she walked over to close it but then she stopped and looked through me. I was confused for a second before I turned around and gasped. It was a boy my age. He was tall and had blazing pink-shaded hair that looked so natural you could actually believe he was born with it. And to be honest, he really was! Isn't that badass!? He had a disorder called heterochromia where one of his eyes were a shining blue while the other one was a light brown. I thought it looked cool personally. Those eyes of his were so bright to me that I always had to adjust my eyes to them every time he looked at me.

It was Dante, my best friend. Or should I say he used to be my best friend before Link came along. He and I hung out almost everyday and loved playing pranks on people. I won't get into detail about it but we've been friends ever since we were little kids and seeing him now just opened up another set of emotions.

"Hello Dante, come to talk to us about Scarlett?" Mom asked him. He sniffed and nodded sadly.

"Yes ma'am…" He replied back to her as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. It was like my heart put itself back together again before breaking once more at the sight of his sadness. Dante was never sad. He never got sad or pissed off or angry. Passionate about something, yes, but that was a whole different thing. Almost every day he would be happy or mischievous which I really liked. Seeing him like this, ugh, I can't take anymore of it. I slowly walked back to where I left Link and he was sitting there with his head bowed in thought. Oh no...I hope something bad didn't happen.

"Hey," I said in a low tone of voice as I walked up to him. He looked back up at me and I could not even tell what he was thinking. Usually I can…

"Hey, did you see your parents?" He asked. I nodded and quickly changed the subject.

"Did you find your friend?"

"Ilia? Yeah, she's in there," He told me. I gave him a smile and my doggie ears perked up. "That's great! You finally found her! Are you happy about that?" I asked. He nodded with a small smile and began walking to the southern exit of the capital. I walked with him as he talked.

"I'm glad I know she's safe. Now I can focus more on what you and I are doing"

"Right. So are we going to Lake Hylia now?"

He nodded as we exited. We both walked down the stairs of the large balcony and then headed towards the lake using the many signs that showed us directions. Traveling West, we came upon a large bridge which was obviously the Great Bridge of Hylia since it was right over the grand lake. We stopped in front of it and looked over at the bright blue water.

"The lake is so beautiful Link," I sighed next to him. He agreed with me but then narrowed his eyes. "But wait, isn't the water a little low this time of the year?"

"Hmm you're right. It should be pretty high right now. I wonder why they drained some of it out. That, or they just built another dam. It could be a multitude of reasons because the people that process the water from the lake to Castle Town are idiots," I told him as we stopped watching the water and stepped on the magnificent bridge. Link chuckled and his ears flattened. "You're so nice Scarlett," He joked. I rolled my eyes while Midna stared at the side of the bridge. I noticed once we got halfway to the bridge and decided to ask her about it.

"Something wrong Midna?"

Link rotated his head to look at her as she nodded her head.

" _Something on the bridge smells funny. You guys smell it?"_

Link and I sniffed the ground and actually did smell something peculiar. I couldn't put my finger on it but I had a pretty good idea of what it was. I started to tell the other two that someone put something flammable on the bridge but a loud obnoxious screech sounded itself through our sensitive ears. We both turned around to see another one of those bulblin archers glaring at us. I thought I killed you bastards! I thought he was going to shoot an arrow at us but instead he just shot a flaming arrow at the ground in front of him. A wall of fire rose up from the ground and filled the whole bridge with smothering heat and flames. Link and I turned the other way and saw that the son of a bitch had a friend who had set that side on fire as well.

" _Well shit. I guess they got you two this time,"_ Midna said, looking at her nails. Did she not care about us at all!? I looked around and when I saw the edge next to us a crazy, idiotic idea popped inside my head.

"Should we just jump!?" I yelled. Link opened his canine mouth to respond and I saw the coming fire reflect in his bright blue eyes. I could tell he was starting to panic in the process of decision-making so I made the choice for him! I lifted him up on the side of the bridge with my snout and then pushed him off before jumping off myself. We both screamed as loud as we could before we slammed into the water below. Shit, that hurt. My legs felt like a thousand pins and needles hit them simultaneously while my head started to spin rapidly. When I rose to the surface again I started to cough water out while Link re-surfaced after me and took in deep breaths through his nose.

"That was smart thinking even though it was crazy as hell," He said, looking at me. I smiled and doggy-paddled, literally, to the shore. "Did you have a better idea?"

"I was in the process of thinking," He replied as we shook the water from our fur. Midna flew from Link's back and gave us a glare for a reason we didn't know. She then got in front of us and flicked both of our noses hard as punishment for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

"Ow!" We both yelped.

" _You got me all wet you mutts!"_

"Hey, we were going to die if we hadn't done that!" I yelled to her, my paws coming to my hurting nose. She shrugged before grinning and jumping on my back. I sighed loudly and then turned to Link.

"Well we're here. What do we do now?"

"Well I guess we try to find the third spring spirit so we can collect the stolen tears of light. Yeah we're gonna have to kill those bugs again. And that's gonna suuuuuuuccccccckkkkkkkkk!" He groaned like the typical teenage guy he was. I laughed while Midna seated herself comfortably on my back. I guess she wasn't comfy enough on me!

Link and I looked around for a good place to start looking for the last spring but couldn't find anything except a few more bulblins and a...wait a minute. What, or should I say who, the hell is that? There was a shadowy figure in the distance staring at us with blood red eyes. It really gave me the creeps so I nudged Link's shoulder and he glanced at me.

"Yeah? You see something Scarlett?" He asked. I shook my head and nodded my head to the figure in front of us.

"Nothing having to do with the spring, but I do see that. What is that?"

"I don't know but he sure is a creeper isn't he. You think he's a rapist?" He asked me with shaky pupils before be both bursted out laughing. Midna rolled her golden eyes at us and shook her head. " _No no no no no. That thing is a shadow bulblin. It's a bulblin, just with twilight particles making up his genetic anatomy if that makes sense to you two. I say you should kill it and see if you can get any clues on where that last spring is. Since the water is low down here maybe it's upstream and that shadow bulblin just happens to be guarding the pathway towards where we need to go so I'm just suggesting you get something out of him,"_ She babbled. That's the most she's talked all day so we might as well listen to her. I let Link lead the way since he would naturally have that manly pride if he felt like he was the leader. Yeah, you know the drill…

"Alright, I'm going to distract him while you land the killing blow. I know you can do it!" He said encouragingly to me. Well on second thought Link was a lot more considerate than a lot of guys I knew. He was actually giving me pride in getting the kill! How sweet!

"Okay, that sounds good. Just don't be surprised if I fuck it up," I giggled. He cut his blue eyes at me and mentioned that he believed I wouldn't do that. Once we got close to the shadow bulblin, I turned my direction behind a rock and walked behind our target without him noticing. Link then jumped out and revealed his sharp teeth at the enemy in fake fierceness. I was just about to run up behind the dark bulblin and pounce on him until he blew something from a bird-shaped piece of grass. I was momentarily confused before I saw a gigantic shadow bird swoop down on top of the bulblin. It jumped on the bird and then smiled at us while he and his bird planned on attacking Link.

"Shit!" He screamed as he rolled out of the way, nearly avoiding the huge bird's attack. I ran to him and stood close to him while he got up like I was protecting him.

"I don't think our plan's going to work anymore," I casually told him with a glance.

"You don't say…"

" _Guys, that thing is called a Kargarok. You better not get hit by its claws or you'll be hurting a lot after the battle's over. It would be best to keep your distance and strike at the right moment,"_ Midna advised us, her voice ringing softly in my ears. Link and I nodded at her words before the bird swooped down again at us.

Oh Hylia, why must you send something more and more dangerous our way after each fight?

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! God that took longer than expected and I didn't even have writer's block. But I guess that went a little deeper into Scarlett's home but most of it will be when they can actually go to Castle Town in their human form in case you were wondering. Well I hope you guys liked this chapter! I worked really hard on it! So please review or comment on the story! Especially you people from Quotev! Fanfiction is kicking your ass right now in terms of views and reviews. Don't be afraid to ask questions either! Please favorite and follow the story as well! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	11. Chapter 11: Finding Zora

**Hey guys! It is finally time for another chapter of my Legend of Zelda story! Alright I know what you're thinking. You little bitch! You should've had this chapter out a week earlier but I started school this week and worked every single day after it so I had no time to write this lol. But I have like three days off this week so maybe I can get this done. Alright now that you know that I just want to say that school already sucks because I'm a senior now and I have AP classes. AP calculus is gonna suck ass, I'm telling you! I can barely make an A in math and this class might destroy me! Anyway, I hope you have liked the story so far! Again, I'm sorry about the wait but I'm trying my best and that's all I can do. Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think about the story so far! Maybe that's another reason why this took so long! I'm kidding but you guys better do your part! It takes five seconds! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 11: Finding Zora

 **(Link's POV)**

This was crazy. This was fucking crazy. This whole day has been freaking insane! First, we go to Castle Town as wolves, then we were forced to jump over a huge bridge into Lake Hylia because it was set on fire, and now we're facing a twilight bird because Midna thinks it might help us in some way, but I don't see how it will! This bird has really sharp claws and I really don't feel like getting cut into shreds by this beast. I don't think Scarlett wants to get hurt either. It's not like I'm going to let anything happen to her but still.

"Damn it, when does this bird ever stop!?" Scarlett yelled over to me as she jumped out of the way of the bird's attack. It swooped down at her at great speed, but she was faster and had better reflexes. She ran over to me and was panting pretty hard. Of course I got worried about her.

"You okay?" I asked, keeping an eye on our enemy while also staring at her. She nodded and her breathing started to slow.

"I'm fine. We just need to come up with a plan on how to defeat this thing. Urghh! If only I were human! I could use my bow and shoot this poser down easy peasy!"

I shifted my footing and growled at the bird as it spotted us and turned to attack in our direction. "That would be nice but we're not that lucky. I have a plan though. If it doesn't work then...I don't know, we'll come up with something new. But for now, when the bird swings down to attack us we need to dodge his claws and bite on his legs. That way, he might lose his balance and make his rider fall down on the ground. Sound like a good enough plan?"

Scarlett pondered it before saying, "works for me."

"Alright cool. I'll go first so you run that way and I'll draw his attention." She nodded and ran to the right while I was in the twilight creature's line of sight. The claws on its feet sharpened out of their sockets and I gulped. I shook my head and growled again. I couldn't get scared now. Not in front of Scarlett, Midna, and the chosen Gods who were probably watching right now. Oh shit, what if they were watching me right now!? What if they have been watching me every single day since I became this so-called _"Hero of Twilight"_!? I felt myself get red at the thought and the loud horn of the twilight kargarok brought me back to reality. My blue eyes followed its assault the best they could before I chose the right time to jump in the air and latch my teeth on its raven-colored leg. Having no idea what I was doing, I started pressing my sharp canines deeper and deeper in the rough skin of the bird and it screeched in pain as it turned sideways in an effort to swat at me with one of its wings. I couldn't believe it. My plan had worked as soon as its rider fell off and landed on the ground with a powerful shake to the earth's crust. I kept my eyes closed tightly as I chewed on this twilight creature but I was able to peek open one of my eyes open to see Scarlett killing the rider viciously. I think she was pissed or something.

"Link! Drop down!" She screamed up at me. I did what she said and released my jaws from the limb I had been hanging on. I landed on my feet and jumped backwards. I thought the bird would attack me again but it actually landed on the ground in front of me and stared at Scarlett and I. I glanced at her and she nodded towards Midna who sat calmly on her back.

 _"I forgot to mention that kargarok are actually really loyal creatures in the world of Twilight. If their current master is ousted by another, then they are sworn to serve the next successor, that being you two. So this is good! He's on our side now!"_ Midna said with a toothy grin on her small face. I gave her a glare and stared back at the bird. It had glowing red eyes that peered into my soul. Of course I didn't believe anything Midna just said. Yeah, she's from this world and everything but she's also an excessive liar!

"I don't believe you. I think this thing is still our enemy," I said lowly. I looked to Scarlett to back me up, but she wasn't there anymore. It was just Midna floating motionless three inches above the ground with that same shit eating grin on her face. I looked back at the birds to see her petting the bird's head with her paw! What the hell!? The bird even lowered his head and leaned in so she could get a better angle at it! I jumped when something smacked my ass.

 _"Told you so. He's a good guy now dumbass."_

I glared at her again.

"You really piss me off you know that?"

 _"I can feel it oozing out of your glaring eyes you mutt. So yes, I do know that and I love pissing you off because the dumb look on your face gives me a good night's sleep every single night,"_ She told me, hopping on my back and making me give off a small grunt. I tilted my head up at her and shook my head. "Now you're just being a smartass." She didn't seem fazed at all as she ignored me. I hate when people do that. I'm quiet most of the time so when I talk I expect you to listen to me you dark leprechaun-looking bitch!

"Hehe, he's friendly now! See Link? Look!" Scarlett called over to me as she started to play with our ex-enemy. She never ceases to amaze me. She could make friends with anybody, I swear. I walked over to her, unhappy with the extra weight on my back, and cautiously got near the kargarok. It turned its head to me and then lowered it as if to say, "I want you to scratch my head like she did." I sighed and scratched him behind the ear. I even found myself smiling right up until Midna's nagging voice forced itself through my sensitive ear drums.

 _"Alright we've all noticed that the water down here is low so maybe if we went to the source of the lake then maybe we could find the problem to it and maybe find the last spring spirit."_

"Wait," Scarlet said, "so how will we get upstream from here?"

Midna grinned and pointed at the bird. _"We fly of course."_

Scarlett and I looked at each other in confusion and our third companion explained that the bird could carry us with his gigantic claws up the river until we were close to the Zora's Domain. I was a little skeptical about that idea but perked up at the thought of meeting the Zoras. I have read about them in one of the books I keep on my shelf and they seem pretty cool! The ability to swim and breathe underwater like a fish just seems so awesome to me. I don't know why...

"Well let's get this over with," I said in annoyance, even though I was really excited on the inside. Why wouldn't I be? I never got to do this stuff back in Ordon Village! Midna grinned and jumped on the bird. She leaned close to its ear and whispered something before taking control of the bird completely. Sounding a large twilight-like noise, the bird grabbed Scarlett and I and started to fly upwards.

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!" Scarlett kept saying as our altitude rose up sharply. I didn't really know how to calm her down so I just said, "It's okay Scarlett. If it drops us we'll just land in the water below. So don't be afraid."

There I go again, sounding like the lamest guy ever. However, she gave me a nod and started to breathe much slower which was a relief to me. When she starts freaking out then I start freaking out and we just can't have that can we? I looked down as we started to move forward up the river. My muscles tensed and my blood froze at how high we were. Now, I'm not afraid of a lot of things but I think anybody would be afraid of being in situations like this. I squirmed a little in the bird's claws and closed my eyes.

"Don't tell me you're scared too?" Scarlett asked me after a few minutes. I popped one eye open to look at her before closing it again.

"Aww," she teased, laying her paw on my head. I felt the skin under my fur become red but I didn't give her any response. The bird we were riding with began to fly faster as Midna whooped and hollered in delight. I knew it, she was behind the massive speed and the high altitude we were flying at. How does she always find a way to irritate me?

" _Hell yeah! This is the most action I've gotten in weeks!"_ She screamed as we flew past various stalagmites in a large cave the river ran through. It was dark inside the cave and water dripped on top of our heads from the cold ceiling. The walls were a dark gray and the river was darker in here down below.

"It's so quiet in here. I like it," Scarlett told me while looking around. I smiled and agreed with her. "Yeah, it's peaceful. Wish everywhere was like this," I murmured. She gave me a look that said she just about to say the same thing and watched as we exited the cave. Sunshine hit our eyes and bodies fast in rays as we headed towards the ground. I expected to see water but there wasn't any! It was just a dried bed of mud and dirt. There had to be something wrong with the Zoras because they were the ones who gave all of Hyrule clean running water. I looked around and when I saw some snow falling I squinted my eyes and walked in that direction. Scarlett gasped behind me and quickly caught up so she was walking beside me.

"So what do you think the problem is?" She asked me as we walked. I looked at her and nodded upward.

"Well, it's snowing and if their domain is up there then the water might be frozen somehow. I bet you five rupees I'm right." She smirked. "You're on!" She told me as we felt the cool chill of the road ahead. It was a good thing we had this body of fur to keep us warm. If we didn't, I think Scarlett and I would've had to hold each to keep our body temperature up. On second though, can someone change me to a human please? No! I need to stop being a pervert and focus on our task. My gods, being eighteen is something else; especially when it has to do with what you're thinking inside your head. You're constantly thinking of girls and boobs and the way their hips sway side to side...and their hair too. Being the chosen hero, it's a real pain in the ass because _technically_ I'm not supposed to think about that stuff because it will corrupt my innocent mind but how could I not you know!? And my partner just happens to be really pretty so not thinking about girls is impossible for me. Thanks Scarlett...

"Son of a bitch!" She yelled out of nowhere. I shot my head at her and blinked. "Huh?" She groaned and rose one of her front legs ahead of us. I followed it to see a humongous waterfall that was completely frozen in cold, white ice. A thin fog floated a couple of inches from it and stayed there like it was stuck with super glue. Looking down, there was a large circular pool at the bottom of the waterfall and that was frozen as well. I could see various fish stuck in their place, their eyeballs staying still like their breathing. Other than them, there was nobody else in the area. It was kind of creepy with just the breeze of wind being the only sound that was heard here. When Scarlett groaned again I jumped out of instinct.

"What?" I asked.

"I owe you five rupees remember..." She mumbled. Oh yeah, I can't believe I already forgot about that. And wow, she looked so sad about it haha. I think I'll be nice this time and let her off the hook.

"You don't have to pay me Scarlett I was just playing with you." I gave her a light push and she giggled. "Okay...Thanks Link."

Note to self, she hates giving away money and I should probably make myself lose instead of her in another contest like that so she'll be happy.

I smiled and looked up at the top of the waterfall. There were strange ancient designs on both sides of it that I've never seen before so it was my guess that the Zoras were up there. If only there was a way to get up there...Ah-ha! There were a multitude of ledges that led up to the top so Scarlett and I could jump with Midna's help; even though she annoys the crap out of me. I'm serious, when this is all over if I haven't miraculously made up with her by then then I just might kill her. What!? I'm kidding! But I'll never talk to that bitch again! That, I can promise.

"Hey Midna, help us get up to the top of that waterfall."

 _"A 'please' would be nice,"_ She replied as she floated to the tip of the first ledge. I rolled my eyes at her and turned to Scarlett.

"Ladies first."

She stepped back and I could sense she was feeling uneasy again. She still seemed to have a hard time doing the things I could do as a wolf. That's okay though. It's my job to help her out and build her confidence. I'm such a good friend aren't I?

"No no, it's okay, you can do it. I know you can," I reassured her. She gave off a soft whimper but nodded. Her legs were shaking as she walked over to Midna and got ready to jump up. She looked back at me and I gave her a smile. She sighed.

"Catch me if I fall okay?"

"I promise I will, but you won't fall," I said back to her. She took a deep breath before jumping from one point to the next. She reached higher and higher until she made it to the very top. I grinned, showing my sharp teeth and howled up at her. She waved and I yelled, "I knew you could do it! Great job!" She yelled back, "Thank you! I didn't know I could but I did! Now it's your turn Link! Be careful!"

Midna floated back down with a sigh of irritation and tapped her fingers along the frozen water of the waterfall.

 _"If you guys are going to get together, just do it already."_ She told me. Luckily, Scarlett didn't hear her. I snapped at her and she giggled.

"It's not like that! We're just best friends is all!"

 _"Yeah yeah I was just teasing Link. Don't get your hero tights in a twist. Now come on, we don't have all day. We still need to find the spring and get all of those tears remember? We can't do that if we sit here arguing with each other all day."_

That has been the smartest thing she's ever said to me. And because of that, I just nodded and jumped to the top of the waterfall with little effort. Scarlett clapped her paws together and I took a canine bow with my head.

 _"You guys are dorks,"_ Midna commented.

"At least we're not a fucking imp with a dumbass helmet on top of our head." Scarlett retorted. Midna opened her mouth and then closed it. Oh hell yeah, Scarlett got her good! This is the first time she's ever shut that big mouth of hers!

" _You know what! I'm not even going to help y'all with fighting those shadow beasts!"_ She yelled at us with her arms crossed and her nose pointing towards the air. Huh? Shadow beasts? Scarlett and I looked to our left and saw three of those twilight monsters heading towards us. Those were the things that created a portal for us every time we killed all three of them. We've been seeing a lot of them lately in many different places, but most encounters weren't exciting enough to remember. But back to the present, the beasts crawled over to us in a creepy fashion before trying to attack us. We both dodged one of their weak attacks and I looked at my partner. Since Midna wasn't going to help us this time, we needed to really work together on this and kill them all at the same time. I told Scarlett that I would pounce on one and then the second while she took out the third. That way, they wouldn't have time to scream their ear deafening screech that brought their comrades back to life. I still have nightmares in my sleep! Imagine if that sound was my alarm sound!

"Alright here they come again! You ready Link!?" She asked me from my side. I nodded and jumped towards the first one, sinking my teeth in its neck and killing it. I then pounced on the second one while Scarlett was busy killing the last one. I'm so proud of her! She's really getting better at battling like this! Because of our teamwork, we managed to kill all three twilight beasts in ten seconds! That's awesome right!? The greatest feeling though is seeing them disappear into black shards while a portal appears over our heads. It means we don't have to walk all the way over here again!

"Oh wow! What great luck! We got a portal right next to the Zora's Domain!" Scarlett said with twinkling eyes. I chuckled and nodded my head while Midna threw her hands around.

" _Yeah yeah, hooray. Let's get going guys. The sun is starting to set."_

"Right," we both said; more to each other than to her. We walked forward a few more yards until we reached another area with a large frozen pool in it. I inhaled a strong fishy smell and my sensitive canine senses came rushing back to my eyes. It was like my vision was black and blue for some reason but I could see things more clearly. I gasped when I saw a ton of fish-like humans stuck underneath the ice. They weren't moving so they were either dead or just frozen in place. Okay, yes, of course they're frozen in place but I mean they're still alive.

"Wow…" Scarlett muttered. I guess she was seeing the same thing I was. "How did this happen?"

" _I don't know but we better find a way to unfreeze this ice you guys,"_ said Midna. She was right. If we didn't do that the water would never flow into the lake and nobody would get any water. But how in the world were we supposed to thaw this shit out!? Scarlett closed her eyes and then jumped up.

"Oh my gosh! That's right!"

I rose an eyebrow in interest.

"What?"

"The lava rock in Death Mountain! You know, the one that fell when we were trying to get in the mines? I bet you if we could somehow get that thing over here then it would melt the ice with its extraordinary heat!" She suggested. I thought back to when we were there and did recall a tiny eruption from the volcano right before we entered the mine. Damn, how did she remember that!?

"You're right! Good job Scarlett! Midna can teleport there and grab the rock with her hair and then bring it here. It...should melt...so let's give it a shot! Midna, you think you can do that?"

She smirked and puffed her chest out.

" _Of course I can. Hehe~"_

She then disappeared along with a small trail of darkness following her and Scarlett and I were now alone. I lifted my paw and patted her on the back with a smile.

"You're so smart! What would I do without you!?" I said. She closed her eyes and smiled at me like she was really happy. And she should be!

I meant every word I said to her!

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

I gave Link a smile and closed my eyes instead of talking. With every compliment and praise he gave me my body shook with both happiness and anxiety. I don't know why but I'm sure if I talked my voice would have came out shaky. Then he would think something was wrong and we don't need all that mess right now. But seriously! He said he wouldn't know what to do without me! That means I'm actually useful in life! Wow, that's a really depressing thing to say Scarlett...I feel like that all the time though; that I'm useless. I think it's just a phase in being a teenage girl.

"When do you think Midna will-"

" _Here!"_

Midna reappeared in front of us with the large lava rock floating above us. My eyes went wide as she lowered it on the ice. Steam rose high above the pool and filled my eyes until I couldn't see anything anymore. I would use my dog senses to see through it but it was such a weird feeling whenever I did that. When the mist cleared, the water came flowing in everywhere in its bright bluish color. Water splashed on Link and I as we took a step back. Water ran down to the river and the zoras in the water started moving again. Wait...What the!? They didn't even thank us they just went on with whatever they were doing before getting frozen! I was about to throw a fit before Link made an 'o' sound next time.

"Oh, that's right, they can't see us remember? That's why they're not reacting at all. It still sucks that we're not getting any credit for what we did," He said to me. I nodded while Midna gasped. " _Don't you mean what I did!?"_

Link waved his arm at her and looked away. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Let's see if we can find any clues on where we need to go right now. I hope we find the spring and kill all the bugs before I get fleas on me…" He mumbled. Fleas!? Oh shit we do need to hurry! I turned around because I thought I was being watched and jumped in surprise at the sight in front of me. It was a large, and by large I mean tall, woman floating in front of us with a small smile on her face. Her looks matched with the zoras, her skin being a fine silvery gray, and her body was fit and slim. Except for her breasts, those were huge! I looked at Link quickly and he was panting with his tongue out.

"Link!"

"What?" He asked innocently, looking back at me like everything was normal. I tensed up and shook my head. For a quick second I had forgotten that dogs just do that on a regular basis so he probably wasn't doing it because of this woman's boobs. If I found out that really was the reason for it, Hyrule might not have their chosen hero anymore.

" _Young heroes,"_ the woman said, her voice smooth and refreshing. We both looked at her and her eyes brightened up as she looked at us. She opened her mouth and began speaking in that peace-filled, wonderful voice of hers.

" _I apologize for the events that have haunted these lands over the past few days. As you can see, my people are not immune to the misfortunes. I am the former Zora Queen, Rutela. I say former because I have...gone to live my life in peace. However, my son is still alive and breathing but I fear for his safety. Before I left this world, I sent him to Princess Zelda to inform her of our current situation but he has not returned. I Implore you to go find him for me young heroes. His name is Ralis. I believe he can help you on your journey but you must find and save him first. Please do this for me…"_ She said, her perfect voice almost cracking from the emotion she was hiding behind that mask of hers. I glanced at Link and made the decision for us.

"Of course we will, Queen Rutela. We would be happy to bring your son home."

She beamed and held her hands to her chest.

" _Oh thank you. I am forever grateful to you both. If there is anything I can help you with please don't be afraid to ask,"_ She told us with a wider smile than before. I smiled at her words and nodded. This was our chance to find out where the last spring was. That way I could be in my human body again!

"Actually, there is something. Could you help us find Lanayru's Spring? We are having a hard time finding it and we need it to change back into our original form. Would you know anything about that?" I asked her. She calmly nodded her head and extended her hand towards the river.

" _If you swim in this river, the stream and current will bring you straight to the destination in which you speak of."_

Link grinned at me and I thanked the queen multiple times before we walked to the edge of the large pool. The waterfall in the background flowed powerfully and the water current was fast. It was a good thing I could swim.

"Alright, let's do this together," Link suggested while Midna tapped her fingers on the back of his neck impatiently. I nodded and we both jumped in the water at the same time. When we came back up, we both yelped and started shaking as we started to flow down the water. The water was freezing! It was like I was glued to an iceberg. Link wasn't doing much better. His teeth chattered constantly while Midna watched us in amusement.

" _You guys are gonna get hypothermia if you aren't careful. It would be better if you started swimming with the current so you can get there faster."_

Was that Midna giving us life saving advice? How rare…But we did what she said. We paddled down the river and it took about five minutes before we were back at Lake Hylia. The current was the fastest I've ever seen it so our travel time was a lot faster than it could have been. Once we were there we lifted ourselves up on the bank and shook the water from our coats. Link and I were still shaking afterwards. I was so freaking cold, let me tell you, my skin felt like an icecube! I was shaking harder and harder until I felt a blanket fall on my back.

"Huh?"

I turned and saw Link with the end of the blanket still in his mouth. He let go of the blanket in a rush and stepped back.

"You were cold so I asked Midna to get our blanket for you."

"T-Thank you Link. I really needed this," I told him in pure honesty. And yet another sweet thing done by Link towards me! He's such a great guy isn't he? I did feel bad for him though because he was shaking as well. I offered to let him lay down next to me and he hesitantly shook his head. I insisted and he stuttered with his voice quiet.

"I-I mean...Are you sure?" He asked in a low tone of voice. I giggled and nodded. Laying down with my paws out in front of me, Link laid down next to me and shivered a bit with a sigh.

"It's pretty warm under here," He said to me.

"Yeah, it feels really good!" I replied. He laughed and then shut his eyes tight a couple of times. I would've asked him why he did that but he told me before I could. "Hey do you mind if I rest my eyes for a few minutes? That swim really took a lot of energy out of me."

"Yeah I don't mind Link. Get as much rest as you need."

He smiled and then laid his head down in front of him before closing his drowsy-looking blue eyes. It didn't take long before he was fast asleep. Watching him rest was soothing and I felt a little sleepy as well. Midna floated down in front of the both of us and sat on the ground with her legs crossed.

" _Sometimes I feel like I work you guys too much. Y'all are just kids after all."_

"Teens," I butted in. She smirked.

" _Teens, right. Now I know we need to hurry but I think I'll let you two have the day off once you turn back into humans."_ Excuse me!? What did she just say!? I was so in shock that I could barely get my sentence out. "W-Why?"

" _You guys need to have some fun in your lives without the constant 'hero' thing."_

"Why are you being nice all of a sudden?" I asked her in disbelief. She turned to look at Link who was stirring and smiled. " _I guess you're growing on me. And I'm not always a bitch."_ She winked at me and I smiled. Link stirred again and jumped with a small whine escaping his mouth. I looked at him in concern and he sighed. "I'm fine. Just a nightmare." He stood up and shook some leftover water droplets from his fur.

"You ready?"

"Uh...Yeah. Do you want to talk about it?" I asked worryingly. He gave me a smile and shook his head.

"No I'm okay. Come on let's get this over with." He looked around and sure enough a large cave opening was a few feet away from us. We walked over to it and entered it. It was dark and sparkly inside with a beautiful private pool inside. The room was circular with stalagmites hanging from the ceiling and dripping cold water. The water was clear and you could see a small treasure chest at the bottom. I'm so getting that when we get finished here.

" _ **Oh young heroes…"**_

Alright Scarlett, this the last spirit you have to listen to…I watched as a large glowing ball of light rose from the water...

" _ **Oh brave youth...Okay you know what? I'm not doing this shit with you guys. You've already heard this crap from my two bullshit brothers so I'll spare you the long freakish lecture."**_

Didn't see that coming…

" _ **Okay so you know the drill. Capture tears in light vessel by killing the bugs, come back here to turn back into your original self, and then save the world blah blah...Look, I'm just going to give you the vessel now."**_

Another light vessel appeared and floated over to us. Midna grabbed it and Link grinned at the spirit. "You're a lot cooler than the first two spirits."

The ball of light glowed brighter at his words.

" _ **Thanks dude! I always was the rebellious of the three. I'm also the middle child so I get the most crap. Maybe that's why I'm so different than them...Okay, go on and kill those nasty bastards for me so I can get my light back. I'll see you on the flip side when you come back!"**_ The spirit told us before disappearing. I looked at Link and laughed. "Oh my goodness, he's great."

"Yeah he is. And now that we have the light vessel we can finally get those insects for the last time. You ready?"

I nodded with a smile.

"I'm ready."

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! I would've continued this chapter but I have three weeks worth of homework because I got in my ACCESS class wayyyyyyyy too late. So please excuse me for updating this way off schedule. I don't know what will happen in the next chapter but it'll be great! Trust me! Okay please review and comment on the story to tell me what you think of the story so far! I'm also working on drawing Link and Scarlett together so why don't you do that with me and then we can share drawings! That would be badass dudes! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	12. Chapter 12: Going Human

**Hey guys! It is finally time for the next chapter of Heroes of Twilight! I admit, I probably should have told you that I was going to take a little vacation from writing but I'm telling you right now so it's okay! I hope you guys forgive me for not updating in a long time. I think it's only been about a month but usually I get at least one chapter out every two weeks so yeah. Anyway, I'm back and I'm ready to resume typing the story! My job sucks but I'm getting a little over $100 every week so that way I can buy Christmas presents! I wish Fanfiction had this giveaway event thing like YouTube sometimes does but it doesn't so that's too bad. Anyway, back to the story. I would advise that you read over the last chapter so you know what's happening before reading this one because that's what I had to do. Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think of it so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 12: Going Human

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

I told Link I was ready to catch all of those twilight insects again but I pretty much lied to him. Like I've said before, those bugs creep me out and every time I have to kill them their guts get on my tongue and then I feel like throwing up! Yes, I'm complaining again but it really does suck. Plus! These bugs are super creepy! Their legs are all slimy and always moving around even if they are dead. That's one thing I find absolutely horrifying; something that moves after it's dead. It's not fucking normal!

"Ugh! Son of a bitch that one almost bit me!" Link yelled out in frustration as he spat out the insect's remaining body parts from his mouth. I raised my paw and laid it on his back.

"I know. But we're almost done right? That's something to be happy about!" I said in an attempt to cheer him up. It worked. He smiled and his big furry ears flattened as a sign of kindness. Mine did as well before going back up at the sound of one of those disgusting insects again. We looked to our right and one of them crawled past us in a hurry, its many legs making a crunching sound every time they made contact with the dirt-covered ground. My face twisted up like it always did when I saw one of those things while Link rolled his eyes.

"Killing these insects is getting really old..." He mumbled before baring his teeth and leaping at the twilight creature. True to his aggressiveness, he killed the enemy swiftly without sustaining an injury. That's the great thing about Link. He can handle himself. Yes, I still worry every time he is separated from me in battle but I always know deep inside that he'll be alright. I, on the other hand, am a different story, I'm an expert in long-range combat since I'm a badass with a bow. I'm also pretty good with my sword and shield but nowhere near as good as Link. My hands sometimes shake before I start fighting but I don't ever give up. I don't scream in fear or run away like any other girl would do. I hold my ground. However, my self-conscious mind constantly tells me that I'm no good. It tells me that Link doesn't really need me with him. I'm almost afraid to ask him what his true thoughts of me are. Like, I guess I'm just scared that he'll either tell me that I just get in the way or that he'll pretend to encourage me so I won't feel bad. It's kind of always been like that my whole life so I should be used to it by now...

"Scarlett, how many tears do we need now?" Link asked me as he spit out a couple of times. I blinked and checked the vessel we kept our tears in. All of the spaces were filled with tears except for one.

"We need one more," I told him. He nodded and reared his head back to look at Midna.

"Where does the map say the last one is?" He asked her. She narrowed her eyes at the map in confusion as she continuously rotated the map in her tiny little fingers. Could she not find it or something? After a few seconds, she finally clicked her tongue and showed us the map. She pointed her index finger to the middle of the lake and scratched her head at the same time.

 _"The map says that insect is in the middle of the lake...but I thought the insects preferred being on land...Hmm, there must be some sort of island over there that's not showing up on here. Oh well, I hope you guys are up for a swim because the last insect is that way. Also, that golden wolf appeared on the map again after you guys found that howling stone."_ She pointed to the middle of Lake Hylia and then at the wolf before she wiggled it like she was teasing us. With the added benefit of almost being done with this insect hunt, we also found another one of those howling stones! That means we can see our old friend, Shade, again! I have more questions for him about who he is and who Link and I are supposed to be. But back to Midna, She laughed after teasing us and hovered over Link's back instead of being her lazy ass self and making him be her way of transportation. She crossed her arms and nodded. _"I prefer not to get wet so I'll just float for now."_

Link and I glanced at each other, thinking the same thing, and then walked slowly into the water. It wasn't too cold but it was enough to take my breath away momentarily. Remember Link and I had just melted the ice from the Zora's domain so it was still fairly cold. I dog paddled the best I could until we reached a five-piece set of wooden boards. Each board was maybe the size of a large door so it was possible to fit both Link and I on them.

"I wonder why these are out here..." Link asked out loud. I nodded in the same suspicion and looked around. The lake was misty but other than that there was nothing to be seen. There was no twilight insect and that worried me a little bit. What if we were stuck like this forever!? How would I ever get with a guy and get married and have babies if I was a dog!? Well I guess Link and I could be together but that's not something I should be thinking about right now! It would be fucking weird! You don't hear any stories of dogs being in love unless it's from some dumb kids book! I'm sorry, I think I'm going crazy since this is the first time I actually want one of those nasty insects to show up...

Well I spoke too soon...

Something buzzed in the water next to us and we both jumped in surprise. The buzzing was heard again in the same spot and a purple electric spark flashed in our eyes. The spark then moved in the water and grew with each buzz that was sounded. Link looked down at the board beneath us and shook his head.

"Please don't tell me this is another fucking boss fight..."

I looked at him and asked in a shaky voice, "a what?"

"A boss fight. Recently, our luck has been astronomically shitty and we've encountered some pretty big monsters! Because of that, I've just gotten used to calling them boss fights since this happens so often. You ready for this one? I'm gonna say it's just an enlarged version of a twilight insect. What say you?" He asked. If I could face palm I would right now. "I'd say how are you so calm in a situation like this!?" I yelled out in panic. He shrugged. "It's like I said. We've done this all before so it's kind of like a round two in a boxing match. A really really unfair boxing match. Unfair for them that is! Alright motherfucker show yourself! Let's do this bitch!" He screamed with confidence written all over his face. I thought Link said he was usually a quiet guy...

The water moved around a couple of waves were created with the electric buzz that was growing underwater. Water then splashed all over us as the monster revealed itself, it's wings keeping it a couple of feet above one of the wooden boards. Link was right. It was just a larger version of a twilight insect. This one must have just ate a can of spinach or something because he was packing. That, or he was just the fatass in the family. Either way, Link and I are still going to kill him. The problem is, how do we do it? The insect was so big that it could rival the size of a small cabin. I guess we could latch onto its stomach and then rip the flesh out of him...Okay let's do that. With this thinking, I accidently boosted my confidence and started jumping across the water, landing on each board perfectly. Link looked momentarily stunned.

"I got this!" I told him as I jumped and caught the insect's belly in my mouth. The taste of rubber filled my taste buds and I closed my eyes tight as I bit down hard. My sharp teeth sank into the skin and blood popped out like the white stuff in a pimple. It was gross guys. I almost threw up for real. The twilight bug screeched and hollered, swinging its body from left to right. It finally managed to swing me off after a few seconds and I landed in the water with a yelp. I heard Link call my name in a worried tone so I hurried back to the surface of the water. I took a deep breath of fresh air once I made it to the top and saw that Link had attacked the enemy in the same way I did. It wasn't long before Link was in the water next to me.

"This thing is gonna be a pain in our heroic asses. I hope you know that," He said, catching his breath.

"Oh yeah, I can tell. We should probably get back on the boards before he attacks us."

"Good idea."

He and I both swam to one of the wooden pieces and had to jump to another one when the bug rushed at us with another one of its over exaggerated howls. It destroyed the piece of wood and then turned around to face us in the air. It began to rush at us again, its wings going up and down at an impossible speed. Link got close to me and separated his feet wide.

"Okay on three we jump. One...Two...Three!" He commanded. We jumped at the insect once it got within range and now we were both latched onto it like a pair of clothes on a hanger. He bit with all of our might, because frankly, we didn't want to have to do this again. Once again, the bug tried to swing us off but it failed when we stayed on him...or is it a her? I don't know! The important thing is that we were still biting him! I knew we would defeat the atrocious thing but I never expected it to succumb to its injuries so quickly. It just kind of screeched before blowing up. Guts flew everywhere and Link and I dropped back in the water. When we rose up Link rose his paw.

"High five! Hell yeah!"

I giggled and touched our paws together. A shining light made us look at one of the floating boards in the lake and there laid the last tear for our vessel. Midna clapped her hands and said something snarky but neither Link or I listened to her. We were just happy that we were about to be humans again. I want my boobs back okay...

"Alright," Link said as he collected the tear. He looked at me and then nodded back at the spirit's hidden cave. "Let's head back over there and turn back to our normal selves again. All of this hair is starting to get really itchy!" He complained. Couldn't agree more with him on that one. We both swam back to the spirit known as Lanayru and showed him our last filled tear vessel that we would need on our journey. The tear vessel, like the last time, flew from our possession and dropped itself inside the spring of the Lanayru spirit. A ball of illuminating light followed and brought light to the whole cave. It looked much better now with it's bright glow instead of the old darkness it was encased in. The ball then transformed into a long figure that swam through the water down below in the spring. It rose up and then underwater as it swam in a circular motion. The spirit then rose itself to us and I could see that it was either a large serpent or dragon. That's interesting. The first spirit was a monkey and then the second spirit was a bird I think. So it would make since if it was a dragon right? I don't know I didn't pay attention in whatever the class this would be included in. Fuck school.

" _ **Well it's about damn time! I thought I would have to wait until Hyrule freaking destroyed itself before you two came back with that dumbass vessel! Haha! Nah! Nah! I'm just playing with you guys. Thanks so much for getting my light back! I need that shit to save this region of Hyrule and all. Now that I have it, I can reveal where your next destination will be. You're looking for a dark power right? Well the dark power you're seeking is in a dungeon deep underwater in the lake of Hyrule. It is a temple that would require you to breathe underwater. I'm sure you can find some way to get down there. However, before you go I need to show you something. It might be horrible or it could be the all candy and rainbows. I'm not really sure. The goddesses decided to conceal the forbidden power from the world and you must now witness it. Only one of you will see this for reasons that are unknown. If I had to guess, I would say it was for the one it most relates to...Are you ready?"**_ Lanayru asked the both of us. I looked at Link and then nodded to the spirit.

" _ **Very well…"**_

The spirit shined brightly and Link suddenly lost his footing and leaned into me. I caught him and then gasped at the sight of his human body. I didn't even realize that we had changed back to our original forms. I looked up at the spirit as Link twitched and whimpered in my arms but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Link?" I asked as I shook him. He looked like he was having a nightmare and his whimpers turned into screams. What was I supposed to do!? I was kind of freaking out until he just stopped all of a sudden. I brushed his bangs out of his eyes and then he smiled. However, it wasn't that usual caring smile he always had on his face. It was more like an evil one. A smirk more like.

"Link? What's going on? What's happening?" I kept asking. After a minute of this he opened his eyes and gasped, pushing himself away from me and taking a few steps back. I stared at him with wide eyes and saw that his blue irises were shaking in fear. Once he saw who I was he sighed and fell to his knees in exhaustion. I knelt down beside him and rubbed his arm.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"It was horrible…" He told me. "I'm glad you didn't have to see that...I can't...I don't know...Basically, it explained that the three goddesses worked together to keep the world safe and orderly. It said they came from the sacred world and gave special powers to the people of the light before returning to the heavens. It worked for a while but then bad things started to happen. This is when everything went crazy Scarlett. Apparently word of the sacred realm was spread throughout Hyrule and a huge fight started. I guess everyone wanted the powers of the goddesses. I then saw three of me but...they weren't the same. They were darkened versions of me. The vision that I was seeing told me that dark sorcerers were slowly taking over the world and its light. That's when Lanayru came in and told me that that's why he and his brothers existed. They exist to seal away the great magic those dark sorcerers knew…" He said to me. He then paused and caught his breath. I rubbed his arm up and down again before he continued. "I felt myself scream for some reason. I'm not sure why but I did. I then found myself here but you weren't here so I got kind of worried. Lanayru told me that the magic they sealed away was the helmet we're looking for right now called the Fused Shadow. Weird huh? And then...I saw Ilia…" He murmured.

I leaned in and furrowed my eyebrows.

"Ilia? What was she doing there?" I asked in almost a rude tone. I didn't mean it to come out that way but it did.

"Yeah I have no idea about that either but there were like hundreds of her and she was falling into a pit of darkness while laughing. A voice told me that you could be ruled by power if you wielded too much of it before everything went dark. And then that was the end of it. Nothing else…" He said.

"That's really weird Link," I commented. He nodded and patted his cheeks.

"It sure was. But I guess I know a little bit more about what we're doing."

"Why do you think you were the one chosen to see the vision instead of me?" I asked. He shrugged and laid his hand on my arm.

"I'm not sure but I'm really glad you didn't have to see that. It was terrible," He said in a quiet tone. I looked at him in concern and wiped a stray tear from his face. "It sounds like it. You even started crying near the end of it. Are you okay Link?"

"Yeah I'll be fine...Oh! And one more thing. There was a symbol in the vision. It looks exactly like the symbol on the back of our hands."

I tilted my head and then turned my hand to look at the back of it. Underneath my glove was a triangle-like shape that I had been born with. I've always wondered why it was there but now I might know why if Link saw it in that vision Lanayru gave him. I'm a little pissed that I didn't get to see it but maybe Shade would know the next time we see him for another hidden skill lesson.

"Hmm strange. We can ask Shade about it when we see him again."

"Good idea," he replied. He stood up with my help and we looked at the exit of the cave. The sun from outside shined at us and we left the cave. Link kept brushing up against me and after the third time I decided to ask him why he kept doing that.

"Oh sorry...I'm kind of tired from that whole experience…"

He leaned into me a bit and I wrapped my arm around him. I felt confidence and surprise surge through me as I did this. How bold of me! I swear, I'm changing by the very minute. That, or it's just the fact that Link and I are used to taking care of each other by now. If either of us are injured, the other always makes sure that they're healed up and ready to go. That's what best friends do!

"I'm sorry you had to go through that Link. Did you want to take a quick rest?" I asked him in concern as we stopped in the middle of the path. He glanced up at me and nodded his head slightly.

"Yeah...I just need to sit down and clear my mind. That cool with you?"

"Of course Link," I said with a smile. He smiled as well and we found a nice spot beside the lake to sit at. The grass here was bright green and the water was a crystal blue. If you looked closely you could see small grey fish swimming past us in the water. It was peaceful! Imagine that, a place in Hyrule that was actually peaceful. After fighting monsters for so long, I naturally stay cautious and paranoid of my surroundings. It's a curse so I'm not used to just taking a simple rest without some kind of conflict ensuing.

I bet Link feels the same way.

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

I sat there with my fingers massaging my temples from the growing headache I was getting. I know we're resting again but I just needed to take a seat and shake these thoughts from my head. They were like voices that were haunting me. I can't explain it well but that's what it felt like. And that part with Ilia...that was horrifying. There were hundreds of her and she was floating through the sky downwards like she was falling off the edge of a cliff. When I saw that I felt myself smile like I was happy for some reason. Why was that? I've never felt so sadistic before in my entire life! There was no way in hell I was going to tell Scarlett that part! Alright, I don't need to be resting all the damn time. I stood up slowly and Scarlett looked at me like she was surprised.

"You good?" She asked me, her head tilted up from her sitting position. I nodded and held out my hand to her. She took it and stood up next to me with that same concerned look in her eyes; however, she was smiling now. I felt myself smile with her and asked why she looked happy all of a sudden.

"I'm just glad that we're humans again. It feels so much more natural this way and it should! Are you sure you're feeling okay because I don't think I could carry you if you just passed out in front of me. That would seriously suck Link!" She said to me. I laughed and stretched my limbs as I replied to her. "Yeah I'm alright now. And yeah I'm glad we're human again too. First of all, I have thumbs," I said as I bent them continuously, "and second of all, I get to have my dashing good looks back once again."

She rolled her eyes at that one and I got all red-faced.

"Right," she laughed softly, "I could say the same for me as well!"

She struck a pose and I mirrored her rolling of eyes.

"But enough about us and our good looks! Where do we go now? The spirit said the dungeon was under the lake but how would we get down there if we can't breathe underwater? I really don't feel like drowning anytime soon or ever Link," Scarlett said as we started walking across a wooden bridge. I shook my head and thought about our options. "I wouldn't let you or myself drown so don't worry about that. As for where we go...how about we go back to Castle Town? I did promise you that we would once we turned back into our human forms right?"

Her green eyes widened and then sparkled like a star. She jumped up in excitement and the sheathed sword on her back bounced up and down slightly.

"That's right! I almost forgot! Thank you so much Link now I won't have to worry about my parents anymore. And I can also introduce you to my friend, Dante! Come on, let's go! I'm too excited!"

"Alright! Alright! Calm down Chosen Heroine!

We walked away from the Lake and up a hilled path so that we were right near the Bridge of Hylia again. The bridge we had to jump off of because it was on fire! When I find those little bastards that did that I'm gonna beat the shit out of them. There was a sign that directed us back to Castle Town. It said that it was down the left path but judging by the road it was probably a pretty long hike all the way over there. It was a good thing I had my trusty horse to take us there!

"Hey Scarlett, you see any horse grass around here?" I asked the girl next to me. She hummed and looked around, her eyes squinting sometimes at the distances she was projecting through her sight. It was cute.

"No I...oh wait...there's some!" She told me as she pointed a few yards out. I followed her hand and saw that there was a patch of horse grass sitting right up against the wall of a large boulder that could've been called a mountain.

"Whoa! Nice! Let's go get Epona and get the hell out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice...Hey Link?" She asked as we made our way over to the grass. I looked at her and saw that she was staring at her hands. The brown gloves fit perfectly on her palm and it was like the spirits fitted her fingers perfectly with it.

"Yeah?"

"Can we...stay the night in Castle Town? I just wanted to spend some time with my parents and friends but if we don't have enough time then that's fine..."

Her voice came out hushed like she was afraid to ask me. I don't know why but that made me kind of sad. I know it's stupid but I don't ever want her to be afraid to ask me anything. As I opened my mouth to respond I could feel Midna's annoyance with me in my shadow grow but I didn't care.

"Of course we can! As long as you don't mind your parents meeting me. Did you think I would say 'no'?"

She giggled.

"Hehe no. I think they would really like you," she replied with reddened cheeks. She then flicked her hair. "And I just felt like I needed to ask. I didn't want to do something without you wanting to do it either. That's not a friendly thing to do, that's a huge asshole thing to do!"

We both laughed at that as we stopped in front of the horse grass. I snatched it up from the ground and blew into it, creating a catchy tune. Seconds later, Epona ran to us and jumped up in excitement. I looked at Scarlett and grinned.

"I think she missed us."

"I'll say! We missed you too girl!" Scarlett said as she rubbed Epona's mane. She then hopped up on the horse with a grunt and brought her hand out to me. That's when you can tell Scarlett is excited about something, she wants to do everything herself with a big smile on her face. I took it gladly though and settled myself in front of her. She wrapped her arms around my waist and I jumped up slightly from the surprise touch. After being a wolf for so long I had forgotten that she was gonna hold on to me for this horse ride. It was a good thing she was behind me so she couldn't see my flushed face. I don't have a crush on her but this was more about a girl touching me more than anything else...even though Scarlett is really pretty…

"Link?"

My head shot up.

"Huh?"

"You ready?" She asked as she leaned her head to look at me from behind. I swallowed and nodded with a smile coming to my face again.

"Yeah, let's get going…"

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Yeah I took a small vacation from writing because I was so busy that I knew I would never get any of this done so that's why this was kind of late but I'm trying to go back to our original schedule so don't worry guys! And I know this chapter is kind of shorter than the rest of them but the next one will include a lot of stuff! This chapter was kind of just to tell you what's happening and remind you of Link and Scarlett's relationship so far. They're teens so it's complicated. Anyway, give me a review or comment and tell me how I'm doing! Tell me how I can make it better! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	13. Chapter 13: Meeting Her Parents

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! I gotta be honest with you I'm really slacking. And this month isn't going to get any better with the more hours I have at work because they added two more hours to our schedule. Like anyone's going to come in at fucking 10 at night on a week day I swear. But back to the story, it's doing awesome! I'm getting a lot of reviews and great comments about this story so I'll try to keep it up. There's also a big surprise I wanted to tell you guys but I've decided that I will tell you in a later chapter to see what y'all think. So for this chapter I plan on having Link meet Scarlett's parents and her (used to be) best friend. It's not that they got into a big fight or anything but she hasn't been there for so long and Link is such a great guy that now he's Scarlett's best friend now! Make sense? Cool! I'm gonna try to get this done by the end of the weekend but that's going to be hard since I work all of this weekend. I'm actually on my break right now lol. Anyway, please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch 13: Meeting Her Parents

 **(Link's POV)**

We galloped away from Lake Hylia and ran our way in the direction of Castle Town. It wasn't a long ride but it felt like forever with Scarlett's arm around my waist. Every time we hit a bump she would tightened her grip, and I don't know why but it always surprised me. I don't get it. We have done this before but this time it felt different. My heart was racing just as fast as Epona's running through the grass. My breathing was hitched slightly and I really hope she doesn't notice it. Sometimes her hair would blow on both of us because of the wind and damn...Nothing in the world was softer than her hair. It was like she was somehow born with conditioner already in it to make it silky and soft like a feather pillow. It always hit on the sides of my arms so naturally I stared at it for a while. I've never really thought about this, but Scarlett's hair is pretty blonde. It's not like a platinum blonde, but a perfect blonde. The color is better than mine, I can tell you that. My hair is like a dirty blonde. But...I guess it fits me well. I've never been teased about it before.

I stopped thinking about other things and glanced up to see the tall structure of Hyrule Castle. What I wouldn't do to explore that! Sure, when I was a wolf I visited The princess there when I first met Midna but I want to really explore it instead of worrying about fucking twilight birds attacking me on the damn roof!

"I can't wait to see my parents. And I can't wait for them to meet you!" Scarlett suddenly exclaimed behind me. I felt myself swallow on instinct and look at her from behind my shoulder. Play it cool Link, don't act nervous.

"Oh yeah?" I said cooly. Good job Link, good job.

"Yep! I don't think we need to tell them about all of the monsters we've fought so far but we can tell them that we're on a journey and all that shit. They might get the whole spirit and _chosen one_ thing but I doubt it. They're pretty simple if you ask me."

"How can that be? They made you," I told her with a grin. Then my cheeks went red as she giggled with reddened cheeks of her own. Gods, I can't believe I just said that…

"Oh whatever Link. Thanks though," she said, nudging my arm playfully. I snorted and turned back to where we were going. I'm just gonna stay quiet for the rest of the ride so I don't embarrass myself again...All I had to do was stare out in front of me. The castle was getting closer so I knew it wouldn't take much longer for us to reach the entrance of Hyrule's capital city. It was really hard not to talk though because Scarlett was pretty enthusiastic about this whole thing and was saying all kinds of things about how her parents were and how some of her friends were. Like, I wanted to give her a smile and talk back but I knew I would just say something stupid because I never know what to say when I'm talking to girls...I wonder if this happens to all guys or if it's just me...But what she was saying was also important because I really did want to make a good impression on her parents. I didn't want them to be like, "Oh shit, no way in hell we're letting our daughter fight monsters with this horrible, ugly teenage boy!" Well I don't think they would say I'm ugly since I've heard from other people that I'm quite dashing but I could certainly be horrible! And oh man, meeting a girl's dad might be the worst thing a guy has to do in his lifetime. It's a lose-lose situation for the guy because the dad threatens you and tells you that he'll cut your balls off if you touch his daughter! Scarlett's lucky! She doesn't have any parents to meet because mine are dead!

...Okay that's really depressing but it's fucking true! Oh gods, what am I thinking? I'm treating this whole thing like we're an actual couple and we're not. I still like Ilia! At least I think I do. Scarlett and I are best friends so getting together would be kind of weird right? I don't fucking know...

"...And my mom is the best cook ever! She can cook anything you give to her and make it taste good! Unless of course it was like a piece of shit or something. That's gross anyway," Scarlett laughed with her smooth-like voice. She then sighed and brushed her fingers through her hair.

"...Haha, I'm sorry Link. I know you want me to shut up right now but I'm just too excited for this," she said to me. I looked at her again and shook my head with a growing smile. "No, you're fine. I like listening to you talk," I said. Link, you dumbass! I should kick my own ass for saying that! However, she surprised me completely by pushing her hair behind her shoulder and smiling with a familiar smirk on her face. "Awww! You're too sweet!"

Okay that somehow didn't make me look like a fool! That's great!

"We're almost there! Oh my goodness, where are we going to leave Epona?" She asked me.

I shrugged.

"I'll just leave her by the bridge. She should be fine, she's a big girl. So, after we go visit your parents should we go visit Telma's bar again where I found Ilia? I mean, I just want to make sure she is okay and I also need to tell her that her father is worried about her back home." Scarlett nodded behind me and readjusted her seat on Epona's back, rubbing up against me in the process. I grunted slightly as she replied to my question. "Yeah we need to do that. We might even find the Zora prince remember? The queen said he was sent to speak to princess Zelda so he could possibly be somewhere in Castle Town."

I hummed in thought about that because honestly I had forgotten about the promise we had made to the queen to find her son. Whoops...

"You're probably right. We'll search for him too...Alright we're here," I said as we reached the small wooden bridge that connected Castle Town to Hyrule Field. Scarlett and I both hopped off Epona and I brushed her face affectionately.

"Okay girl, we're going to be in town for a while so just wait around here for us okay?"

She snorted and leaned her face against my palm. I smiled and patted her before making my way to the bridge. Scarlett followed after talking sweetly to my horse and walked with her arms behind her back likes she always does. I don't think I've noticed that until now...

"Why do you think they built small bridges over a moat? I mean, the city doesn't really need a moat because there aren't really any other cities that could rival this one."

"Yeah, but there are a lot of thieves and gangs in Hyrule Field so it kind of makes sense if you think about it that way," I replied. She looked at the ground and smiled. "Hmmm point taken. It just seems like a huge hassle. What if one of the brides got destroyed? Then everyone would have to worry about that bridge because no trade goods would enter the city from that specific side...How did we get on this topic?"

"I don't know, you brought it up," I laughed. She rolled her eyes as we entered the town. We entered from the market side of the town so people were rushing to get some discount the merchants were giving out today. It was freaking crazy! The only time something like this happened in Ordon Village was when the town was having a feast. Kids ran around screaming and yelling in what I assumed was a game of tag. Also, there were a couple of priests asking for donations but Scarlett and I acted like we had no money. I'm sorry, but we really need that money right now for food and equipment.

Scarlett, of course, led the way and sometimes had to grab my hand to guide me through the crowd. It was a little overwhelming for me so I'm glad she's here with me. She knew her way around this humongous place and acted as the perfect guide for me. We entered the shopping district where all of the expensive places were present and walked in the direction of Scarlett's house. We passed the large water fountain and a memory flashed inside my mind but I couldn't quite remember what it was. It was something small but it had to do with Scarlett and I. Oh well, it'll come to me later. It always amazes me whenever I see where Scarlett lived. I've only been here two or three times but the buildings and houses are much more different than the ones in Ordon Village. They're very...well-built. They're big and close together and beautiful altogether. All I have is my lonely treehouse haha.

"Alright my house is the fourth one on the right," Scarlett said as we walked a few more meters and then suddenly stopped. Her house looked like all of the other house except for the fact that Scarlett's family at least put an effort in decorating the outside of it. The blonde-haired girl who lead me twirled around and then hopped in place with her arms out towards the house. "Ta-da! Welcome to the residence of the chosen Heroine of Hyrule!" She announced. I chuckled and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I'm honored," I said teasingly. She smiled and stared at me.

"You ready?"

I nodded and she turned to the door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She was visibly shaking as we waited for her mom or dad to answer to door. She was more nervous than she thought she was. I think I should've been the one to ask her if she was ready or not. I wanted to take her hand in mine and tell her it was okay but the opening of the door stopped me from doing that. The person who answered the door was a woman. Her skin was fairly white and her hair was a vibrant red. She was pretty and I could see some resemblance of her in Scarlett. This must be her mom. The face expression she gave when she saw Scarlett standing there was...I can't even describe it. She gasped and her eyes immediately started to tear up.

"S-Scarlett? Scarlett!? Oh my gods!" She embraced Scarlett in a tight hug and started to cry while Scarlett hugged her back with the same amount of love.

"Hey mom! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too sweetheart! Where did you go? Your father and I have been worried sick about you!" Her mother said with a frown. Scarlett rubbed the back of her head nervously and her voice came out breathless. "It's a long story...but I'll explain it to you in just a second. First I want you to meet my friend, Link. He's been with me the whole time so you didn't have to worry," she told her mom. Her mom looked at me and her eyes sparkled. My eyes widened and I raised my hand to shake hers. Instead, she gave me a hug! What's happening right now!?

"Thank you Link! Thank you for keeping my little girl safe! I'm Scarlett's mom, Kate," She said before pulling back and smiling at me. Scarlett blushed and looked away while I stood there in a daze.

"U-Uhh...It was no big deal...We just kind of met each other and stayed together..." I managed to get out.

"Hmm well it's a big deal to me. I'm so glad she's safe! She just suddenly disappeared during an attack on our castle and I had no idea where she went. I cried for days! But now that I know she's safe I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders! Oh my gosh, where are my manners? Come inside! Both of you! Come! Come!" She grabbed both of us and pushed us inside before closing the door behind her. I found myself chuckling at her because she and Scarlett acted just alike. I glanced around the room and was amazed at how big it was inside. We were currently in the living room and it had a large and tall fireplace burning a bright ember of fire inside of it. Comfortable furniture was aligned in the middle of it and the room crossed over to the kitchen on the other side of it. I couldn't see all of it, but I did notice a kitchen table that could sit at least six people at it.

"So, please tell me how you disappeared that day. I've been confused for the past week Scarlett," her mom said to us as she sat on the couch. We sat down as well and Scarlett started from the beginning to when she first turned into a wolf. Throughout her explanation Scarlett kept reminding her mother to not think she was lying or being silly. This was all real and needed to be taken seriously.

"So then the wolf led me to Faron Woods and I met Link at the spiritual spring there. He's from Ordon Village."

"Oh I know where that is. That's where our merchants get goat milk from."

I nodded and Scarlett continued.

"Yeah well we met there and decided to stick together since we were apparently these two chosen heroes. We both thought it was crazy at first but as we pushed our way through various monsters and enemies we learned that we really were chosen by the gods to do this. The thing is, Hyrule is being engulfed in a cloak of darkness or twilight you could say. Our job, per say, is to bring the light back to Hyrule and the only way to do that is to defeat all of the monsters of darkness..." She looked at me and sighed, "I feel like I'm not explaining this right."

I shook my head and encouraged her to go on.

"No, you're doing fine. Keep going,"

"Alright. so-"

She then explained the first two dungeons we went through, but decided to not tell her mom about the busted pipe that burned her arm. She didn't want her to think she got hurt or anything. When she finally finished explaining how we unfroze the Zora River and made it here she stopped speaking and stared at her mom, waiting for her opinion. Her mom was surprisingly calm throughout Scarlett's explanation and it looked like she understood what was going on.

"Well that explains it...I had no idea it was going to be that complex Scarlett. Hearing you talk about battling large monsters and twilight creatures worries me...but I knew there was something special about you ever since I gave birth to you. I think it started with that bright blonde hair of yours. Oh, and your green eyes too! You don't have red hair like your father and I. You have the same hair as your great grandmother. You're also named after her because of that. But to think you would be a hero chosen by the gods to save Hyrule! I'm almost speechless right now! Almost..."

Scarlett fidgeted in her seat on the couch and bit her lip.

"W-Well...is it okay with you? I mean, are you okay that I have to do all of this?"

"Well I'm not exhilarated by it but it's not like I have a choice. The gods chose you and Link to do this so I think you should meet up with that responsibility. But! I want you two to stay together and never split up! Go with the buddy system and you'll be okay. Link, how have you been dealing with all of this?" She asked me. I blinked and looked down at my hands. "I don't really know actually. I haven't really thought about it that much. I've just kind of gone with it because I guess I had nothing better to do back at home. Living in a small village, the only thing I was ever going to amount to was maybe a goat herder so...I guess this was the better option for me and I don't regret it because I know I'm doing a great thing," I said. I honestly just surprised myself! That was a really good answer to the question! Scarlett was smiling and her mom was too so I felt confident.

"You seem very honest and humble Link; I like that." Scarlett's mom stood up from the couch while I was smiling like a little kid.

"...I'm grateful you were the one she was paired with! You two will be the cutest couple in Hyrule!" She yelled to both of us. Our faces turned a sunset red and we both looked at each other with widened eyes.

"Say what!? W-Were not a couple!" We both yelled in unison. She rolled her blue eyes at us and threw her hand down. "Well you should be. Y'all would look perfect together!"

"Mom! Shut the hell up!" Scarlett screamed as she stood up. Her mom laughed and walked over to the kitchen while her daughter kept whining behind her. I watched them disappear in the kitchen and then back at my hands again. This was so weird. This was nothing like the time I met Ilia's parents; then again I was only like four years old. I do like Scarlett's mom though. She seems pretty cool and I'm glad she understands what Scarlett and I are going through. I'm even happier that she's going to let us continue our journey. She kind of has to anyways since the fate of Hyrule rests in our hands.

I turned my head when I heard Scarlett's voice again.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

"I'm making dinner sweetie. You haven't been here for the week so I want to make your favorite tonight. You are staying tonight right?" She asked Scarlett. Scarlett glanced at me from the kitchen and I shrugged my shoulders indifferently. She nodded back at her mom and then waved me over to join them.

"Great! I'm so happy you are honey! As for where Link is sleeping he can just sleep in your room."

Scarlett gasped slightly.

"My room!? B-But...What would daddy say!?" She asked. I froze up at the mention of her dad. The father was always the one that was going to give you a hard time so I knew he wouldn't be thrilled by the thought of me sleeping in his "little girl's" room. Again, her mom threw her hand down. "He won't mind. Don't worry about it. I-" She stopped when knocking was heard at the front door. She grinned and took off the cooking mitts she had put on when she entered the kitchen. "...Speaking of...he's home!"

She opened the door and there revealed a man that looked like his wife, just a littler taller and with more muscles. He greeted his wife with a hug and kiss and then he saw Scarlett. He said no words as he ran to her and hugged her in his arms. Just like with Scarlett's mom, I just stood by while Scarlett had her moment with her dad.

"Hi daddy," she said softly.

"Scarlett, w-where have you been? Your mother and I have been looking everywhere for you. Did you get lost somewhere?"

"It's a long story..." replied Scarlett, just like she had with her mom. Her mom intervened at that moment and offered to tell her dad everything we told her. Thank the gods for Scarlett's mom, am I right?

After ten minutes or so, the explanation was completed and Scarlett's dad sat there with a thoughtful look on his face. Her mom got some parts of the story wrong but overall she knew the overview of the situation. Her dad, however, was just sitting there and not saying anything. We had no idea what he was thinking until he grinned at Scarlett and pumped his fist.

"Well what do you know!? My daughter was chosen by the gods to save the world! Oh man, wait till the guys at the armory hear about this! Those sorry bastards!" He busted out laughing and we all laughed nervously with him. I thought he was kidding but he wasn't.

"So you're okay with all this?" asked Scarlett slowly. He nodded and crossed his arms. "I can't really argue with the gods can I? Plus, I'm confident you can handle your own out there. After all, I've taught you everything you know when it comes to archery right? And with Link here with you I believe you two can actually do this. Yes, I am still worried, but I will always be worried about you sweetheart. I don't want anything to happen to you. But, right now I'm just glad that you're okay. I must give my thanks to you Link for bringing her home to us.I'm Ian by the way," her dad said as he shook my hand. He had a strong grip and I tried to equal that grip as much as I could.

"It was no problem sir. Scarlett and I have gotten to know each other ever since we've met and have become a great team."

"I'm sure you have! You look like a fine lad, my boy!" He slapped my back and I smiled.

"Honey, they said they were both going to stay the night."

"Really? That's great! Have you guys had dinner yet?" He asked as he started taking off his armor. I hadn't even realized he was wearing any. By the sounds it was making as they hit the floor I assumed the armor was heavy. I distinctly remember Scarlett telling me that her dad was a hylian guard so this made sense. Underneath the armor, he was wearing a simple sweatshirt and shorts.

Answering his question, we shook our heads and he smiled as he walked over to the kitchen. We followed him and watched as he looked inside one of the pots Scarlett's mom had put over the stove's fire.

"Soup! Hell yeah! It looks about done. Let's set up a table. Come on Link, help me put out the plates real quick."

"Yes sir," I said immediately. He handed me a couple of plates and I set them down on the table as instructed. We then took a seat and Scarlett's mom poured the soup into our bowls. The soup consisted of chicken, potatoes, some horse plant, and deku nuts. I've had something like this at home! Although, I bet Kate's cooking is better than mine. Boys are known for their strength and bravery, not their cooking skills...

"So have you talked to Dante since you been here Scarlett?" Her dad asked. She turned to him and then her green eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh I forgot about Dante! No I haven't, we've only been here for a couple of hours. I haven't even seen him. Do you guys knew where he is?" She asked. Her mom stirred the ingredients in her soup slowly. "I think Dante is at the academy learning how to be a Hylian soldier. He's at the top of his class and he told us that the instructor really likes him. Isn't that great? He moved up in the ranks while you were gone dear. He came by the same day as the attack to see if you were okay and tell you that, but I guess that's when everything happened huh?"

Scarlett bowed her head and sighed.

"Yeah...Ugh now I feel bad. I'll go try to find him real quick." She stood up from the table and I did as well.

"Do you want me to come?"

"No no, you're fine Link. I'm going to be gone for about five or ten minutes. I should be back before the sun sets," she said as she left the kitchen and exited the house through the front door. Her dad grunted while her mom muttered something about her leaving after she just got here. Now it was just me and them; them and me. My heart was pounding! I peered down at my soup bowl and found nothing but the remains of the fine broth that had been made for our supper. I guess I was hungry. I continued to stare at the empty bowl until I felt a hand on mine. I looked to my left to see Scarlett's mom.

"Tell me Link, how has Scarlett really been?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Scarlett tends to lie to us about her feelings so we don't worry. We can usually tell when she does because she gets this little twinkle in her eyes. It's unusual, I know, but we can tell. So come on honey, is she lying to us or not? Scarlett can be a sensitive girl and the thought of her fighting monsters and twilight creatures is an amazement to me."

"Sensitive? Actually, I find Scarlett to be pretty tough when it comes to fighting. Trust me, she's saved my hide more times than I can count. She was born to fight! As for how she's doing. She seems to me like she's doing great. We both talk a lot and she's always smiling or laughing. I used to be very quiet but as time with her went by I've gotten used to talking to her the whole day...I can thank her for bringing that side of me out."

She smiled at my words and looked at her husband.

"Sounds just like her. Well that's great. I'm so glad you two have gotten to be good friends. Umm...I know this might be a personal question sweetie, but are you and Scarlett...acquainted?" She asked. I tilted my head in confusion at the word while the man sitting to the right of me nearly choked on his soup.

"Acquainted?"

"You know...in love~"

What the fuck!? Why would she ask that!? My face must've grown as red as a tomato because she laughed. I started telling her that we weren't in failed stuttering attempts, but she said she was just kidding. I sat back and sighed in relief while Scarlett's dad did the same. What would have he done if I had said yes?

"You two are just alike; both frazzled by the simplest things. I forgot to ask you though about your sleeping arrangements. You're okay with sleeping in Scarlett's room tonight right Link? We don't really have any other space for you right now," She murmured, twirling a lock of her red hair with her finger. "Yes ma'am, that's fine. I'll just sleep on the floor."

Scarlett's dad grunted again.

"Now now, Ian. You don't need to worry. Link won't do anything to Scarlett. They've been together for the past two weeks. By now, they should trust each other with their lives, assuming that the enemies they have fought are the ones I'm imagining in my mind. Link is from Ordon Village remember? That's the village where we get our goat's milk. Being from a small village, I'm sure he has some very traditional and conservative values..."

He nodded and crossed his arms.

"Ah, I hadn't thought of that...Well...I guess it's okay...but just for tonight. Scarlett is too young to be sleeping with a boy in her room. Nothing on you Link, it's just my fatherly instinct kicking in. Some fathers would threaten you but I prefer to give Scarlett more freedom than the other girls she knows at school. However, there was that one time when Dante was going to sleep over and he said something dirty that I can't recall but I made him leave for that. A boy like him won't be sleeping in Scarlett's room anytime soon or ever. Nothing on him or anything, it's just he has that..."town" attitude. An attitude every teenager here seems to have, I swear...but you're different Link. I can see it. I can tell you're nervous right now but you don't have to be. We would never be mean to a boy who has brought our girl back to us. And for that, you have my respect," he told me with a nod. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders as I nodded back with a smile. I opened my mouth to say something kind or smart but all I could muster was a genuine "thank you sir". I looked at Scarlett's mom and she was smiling down at the table like she was really happy. Hmmm, she's looking like me right now.

"Ugh, I couldn't find him anywhere...He probably went home or something. He lives all the way on the other side of Castle Town so I decided to just come back here," Scarlett told me as she walked through the front door and sat beside me, "but anyway, what were you guys talking about while I was gone? You weren't showing Link my baby pictures were you?" She asked with narrowed eyes full of suspicion. Her father chuckled with the rolling of eyes while her mom gasped.

"Oh my! I forgot all about those! Thanks for reminding me!" She yelled as she ran into the next room. Scarlett shrieked a terrified scream and started to panic. Like a flash of lightning, she stood up, grabbed me, ran to her dad to tell him goodnight, kissed him on the cheek, and then ran the both of us up to her room on the second floor of the home. She slammed her bedroom door after letting go of me and you could hear her mom's voice calling for me in a confused tone. I laughed under my breath and looked around. Scarlett's room was so...cute. It was very heavenly-looking. By that, I mean the paint on the walls were bright happy colors and her taste in decoration was beautiful. This is Scarlett we're talking about so this was to be expected. She had a variety of her own drawings posted on the walls and there was not a place that you couldn't find the royal symbol. Behind me, the blonde-haired girl was wiping her forehead and saw that I was observing her room.

"I'm so sorry about that Link. My mom's crazy. As you can see, I absolutely ADORE the royal family! I'm fascinated by them because the castle is so pretty. I want to live in it!" She exclaimed, sitting on the bed and taking off her boots. She was wearing cute little socks with horses on them. I don't know where she got those but I blushed and she patted the seat next to her. I cleared my throat and sat by her, reminding myself constantly that I was in a girl's room alone with a girl! This was like...This was like going from first base to getting a homeroom for me! In another sense of course since I haven't touched her at all and baseball doesn't even exist in Hyrule but we won't get into that fucked up shit...

"I like your room Scarlett, but it's pretty girly," I said. She giggled and pushed me lightly.

"Well duh! I'm a girl!"

She stood up and walked over to her mirror while I was still a bit nervous. Her on the other hand...

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

I'm totally freaking the fuck out! Not only did my parents almost humiliate me by bringing out my baby photos, but I also have a boy in my room! I know it's just Link but still. I'm being such an idiot right now. Link and I hang out all the time so I shouldn't even be feeling this. Explaining our situation to my parents went better than okay and I'm glad they support it. Although, I did leave out some of the more danger-endearing details we've encountered when giving our story. I was now standing in front of the mirror in my bedroom and picked up the hairbrush I had used that morning when I had first turned into a wolf. I brought it through my hair and it now felt soft as I brushed it completely. Link sat on my bed with a curious look on his face. He kept looked all around him in awe at my room. He said it was too girly, but he liked it haha.

"So what did you and my parents talk about while I was gone?" I asked, looking at him through the mirror. He returned my gaze and smiled cheekily.

"Nothing much. Your mom told your dad that I would be sleeping in here for the night."

I stopped brushing my hair and actually looked at him.

"And?" I asked with a slight laugh following it.

"Your dad got a little worried but then said that it was okay after he thought about it. They believe that since I'm from a small village that I'll be really innocent and sleep as far away from you as possible."

"Haha that sounds like him. He's pretty laid back unless it's something that could potentially endanger his family. But enough about him. I'm going to go change okay?" I asked as I walked my way to the bathroom. He nodded and started to take off his boots. In the bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. I looked... _okay_ with my bright blonde hair and green eyes. Then again, this was just me criticizing myself again. I turned away from the mirror and took off all of my gear. I felt lighter with everything off and put on a cute green shirt. As for the bottom part of me, I just put on a pair of short shorts. I was going to be comfortable today damn it! My hair was already in a braided ponytail so I didn't have to do anything with that.

"Okay I'm done with the bathroom!" I yelled happily with my arms over my head. "You want in?"

Link looked at me and his face turned red for some reason.

"Nah, I'm good. I didn't know you were going to change in other clothes," he said to me. I laughed and got under the covers. I was seriously ready to get some sleep.

"My own personal clothes are more comfortable than my chosen Heroine ones. Come on, get under the bed with me," I told him. He rolled his eyes with that smile of his and he did. The bed was large enough to hold two of us but our shoulders touched. We both looked at the door when we heard a sudden knock at it.

It was my mom and dad.

"We just wanted to say goodnight sweetie. We love you," My mom said with a wink before going back downstairs. My dad basically said the same thing but added his own little twist to it, "And remember Link, if you hurt my daughter I'll have to kill ya! Goodnight! Love you honey!"

He closed the door and I looked at Link. The look on his face was priceless.

"What fucking happened to not threatening me!?" He asked in clear amazement. He groaned and his head hit the pillow while I laughed at him. I laid my face next to his and turned off the light. Moonlight passed through the ceiling window and Link and I could see each other's faces. We were both tired so I knew we would fall asleep quickly. He was still wearing his green hat for some reason so I took it off for him. He smiled at me as I covered my face up, trying not to laugh. His hat had been covering up the hair he had grown and it was longer in the back. His front, however, was still in it's styled fashion that I envied. I mean seriously, how does he get his bangs to wave to the side like that!?

"I think you need a haircut tomorrow."

He rolled his eyes at me and put one arm behind his head and laid on it. His bicep was right next to me and I blushed without even thinking about it. His mucle made me think back to when he had to wrestle the mayor of his village. He was shirtless then. Shirtless and fit as hell! That thought made my face flush even more and he smirked at me.

"What? Thinking of a way to ruin my perfect hair?"

"No...Just thinking about something nice," I said. He gave me a look and I brought my arms together in front of me on the bedsheet. My eyes were starting to close on my own so I chose to tell Link goodnight now before I fell asleep.

"Link I'm gonna fall asleep any minute so goodnight."

"Yeah, me too. I can't remember the last time I slept in an actual bed. Your bed must be the most comfortable bed in Hyrule because I don't ever want to get up," he commented as he closed his eyes. He looked so innocent like this. He has a cute baby face now that I think about it haha. I just want to pinch his cheeks! But seriously, to think this innocent sweet guy can fight off so many vicious monsters and look like this. I bet he'd say the same about me though…

"..."

Link's breathing slowed and his muscles relaxed. I grew happier just by seeing that and scooted close to him. He gave off this warmth that was different than some typical blanket or bedsheet. His body rubbed up against my but I honestly didn't care right now as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Knowing the two of us, we'll both probably be asleep by noon tomorrow…

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! I had some writer's block on this chapter but I got through it all the same. I really hope you guys like the story so far and Dante will come in in the next chapter so you know who I'm talking about a little bit more. If you have any ideas about this story and how I can make it better, I'm all ears! Please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think about it so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	14. Chapter 14: Back On Track

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter of my legend of Zelda chapter! I kind of plan on this chapter being a bit on the shorter side but who knows I might get creative with it and make it longer than I intended. So yeah I haven't updated in a few weeks but I've been busy! But it's all good because I'm back! Isn't that great!? Well the sad thing is I haven't even updated the last two chapters on Quotev yet lol. The only reason for that is because updating on that website is such a bitch! I swear...So the people on fanfiction are getting a special deal! Also the fact that Quotev can delete your story for having things in your story that are too intense and that's retarded. Alright I'm done whining and complaining about that. Let's get back to the story! You guys are doing great with the reviews but it would badass if I got even more! So please review and comment on the chapter and tell me what you think of it so far! If you have any ideas please don't be afraid to share them with me and I will give you the credit. It's kind of like sponsoring my story to get attraction to yours! It's a win-win situation! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 14: Back On Track

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

I was right. Link and I didn't wake up until like noon and we just destroyed my bed during the night. I was on top of him, he was on top of me, and all of the sheets were out of place like a damn earthquake shook itself through Castletown. It was weird how we both moved a lot in our sleep. You could say it was cute for a fighting pair like us but he and I just thought it was funny when we did finally wake up to the sound of birds chirping outside my window. I sat up and stretched my arms over my head, and he did the same. He then rubbed the sand out of his eyes and stood up on my floor.

"Hey, can I use your bathroom?" He asked. I blinked, surprised that he would even ask that. Of course I had to tease him about asking!

"Of course Link, what do you think this is? You think I would beat the shit out of you for using my bathroom!?" I questioned him with a fake tone of seriousness and aggression. He chuckled and flicked my forehead, instantly killing the illusion of my fake behavior towards him. I rubbed my forehead as the bathroom door closed and pouted. How did he always know what to do? He handled that like a pro. Oh well...I got off the bed myself and walked over to my dresser where a large mirror sat above all my make-up stuff. I looked at my reflection and frowned. My blonde hair was a little messy so I started brushing it with my brush. It was getting pretty long but there was no way I would ever cut it short. It's a childhood thing. My favorite childhood story was _Rapunzel_ because she had long beautiful hair so I wanted that too. But seriously, I would freaking cut it if it started like...I don't know...touching the floor or some crazy shit like that. That's just really disgusting okay. Once I was done brushing the twists and knots out of my hair I put my hair up in a ponytail, like I usually did, and placed the familiar triangular-shaped pendent in my hair. It was so pretty the way it's golden triangles shined with my hair. The gods sure know how to make a girl look good huh? However, I always love putting my own personal touch to things. I took a large strand of my hair and braided it across my head. I swept the braid to the side so it would look prettier that way. As for clothing, well that was easy. All I had to do was put on my "Heroine" uniform. I missed wearing my normal clothes but wearing the same ones practically every day was so much easier and faster!

"Hey," Link said as he came out of the bathroom, "how do you get the shower in your bathroom to work? It's completely different from mine at home. That's because I don't have a shower haha. I always went to the spring everyday to wash up. We don't have any of this fancy stuff in Ordon village you know," he said to me with his hands on his hips. I laughed and went to go help him with the shower.

"So this is the 'cold' switch and this is the 'hot' switch. If you need to plug up the drain you flip this lever right here and it will clog the drain below you. But...I don't really see a need for that you don't have to worry about that. However! Before you take your shower, I'm gonna cut your hair!" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could let out. He groaned and lowered his head. Oh that's right, boys hate getting haircuts...

"It'll be alright. I won't even touch the front part of you hair. I'm just going to shorten the back for you okay?" I reassured him as I patted his back. He raised his head and smiled at me with a nod. I had him sit in front of the mirror of the bathroom and tied a towel around his neck. He squirmed some but overall was calm about getting his hair cut. I grabbed the scissors off the counter and started cutting the end of his hair. The hair fell to the wooden floor as I spoke, "You shouldn't be worried that I'm cutting your hair. I took a cosmetology class back when I was in school. So, I'm an expert in this!" I boasted.

"I'm sure you are," he replied sarcastically. I snorted and cut another piece of hair off him. It didn't take long; maybe about five minutes. When I was done, I brushed his hair and presented him to the mirror while pretending that stars were shooting out of my hands. He looked at himself and grinned.

"I look good! Then again, I already looked good before we started. But now I look better! Thanks Scarlett! Ahhhh! My whole body is itchy from my hair now!" He whined as he started scratching himself. I laughed under my breath and put the towel in the dirty clothes hamper. That's what he gets for being a cocky bastard!

"I'm gonna take my shower now!" He said in a hurry as he ran to the shower and flipped the "hot" water switch. I quickly got out of the bathroom before he started taking off his clothes and shut the door behind me. I looked around the room and deemed that there really wasn't anything for me to do in here. Seeing this, I made my way downstairs and found my parents at the table. My mom looked up and laughed loudly.

"Ha! GOOD MORNING Scarlett! LUNCH is ready!"

"Yeah yeah it's 12;00 o'clock, I know mom," I said to her. She smirked and started making me a sandwich. I sat at the table and glanced at my dad. He was reading the town's newspaper, _"The Daily Hylian"_. He flipped the paper and smiled at me.

"Good morning sweet pea. How did you sleep?"

"Good."

"Link sleep on the floor?" He asked with cautioned positivity. I lied and told him he did.

"Well that's great! I hope he slept well. He is still asleep?" He asked as he closed the newspaper for good. "No he's in the shower right now," I said to him as mom set my sandwich in front of me. It was a turkey sandwich with mayonnaise and mustard on the insides of the bread; just the way I like it. I thanked her with a kiss and a hug, and then started eating.

"So what's the plan for today? Are you two leaving tonight or...?" My mom asked with uncertainty. I swallowed my food before replying. "I think we need to get going right after we're done eating actually. I'm sorry but we're kind of on a tight schedule. But, once we're done with all of this I'll have all the time in the world to spend time with you guys!" I told them with a big smile. They nodded and told me they were looking forward to it.

A couple of minutes went by before we heard thumping upstairs. The thumping then sounded like it had gone lower and lower until Link appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He was dressed in his green tunic and green hat. It looked so nice on him. He walked over to the table and sat next to me with a smile on his young tanned face. His dirty blonde hair was still wet but his bangs never seemed to get out of the badass style they were always in. Damn him...

"How did you sleep Link?" My mom asked him.

"Really good! Thank you for letting me stay the night!"

My mom made a 'pshh' sound with her lips and threw her hand down. It was like she was saying "no problem". She then set his sandwich in front of him and he immediately began filling his stomach with my mom's cooking. By the looks of it, he loved it. He finished that sucker in under a minute! My mom's eyes went wide and she was almost speechless.

"L-Link...Honey...Do you want another one?" She asked him with a laugh escaping her lips. My dad just smiled as he started reading his newspaper again.

"Yes please..." Link answered with reddened cheeks. Okay, that was adorable. She set a second sandwich in front of him and he ate a little slower this time. The rest of our time eating basically consisted of Mom asking more questions about our adventure. Some questions had to do with what type of places we've been to and what we thought about the whole thing. Other than that, nothing much happened. Dad was his normal self, which was surprising to me. I thought he would spend all of his time talking to me since I had to leave today but he didn't. He just sat at the table like he usually did and read the newspaper with the occasional sip of his coffee. Typical Dad...He was most likely just hiding his true emotions from me.

After about thirty minutes of chatting, a tiny shadow appeared out of Link in front of me. It was the size of maybe a hand or smaller. It was Midna! What the hell? She wasn't saying anything, but she was tapping her wrist with an annoyed look on her face. I squinted my eyes to get a better look and realized she needed us to get going. I sighed and stood up from the table. My mom instantly stopped smiling and stood up as well.

"Do you have to go already?" She asked.

"I'm afraid so. I'm so sorry Mom. We'll come back and visit as soon as we can so don't think I'll be gone long. I love you!" I told her happily as I hugged her and then dad. He hugged my back and smiled. "We'll be here when you get back. Oh, and Link? It was nice to meet you son," he said to the teenage boy as he shook his hand.

"Likewise sir," Link said back. He and I gathered our stuff and walked over to the front door with my mom following us. She was always really clingy like that. She opened it for us and then gave us both one last hug for good measure.

"You two be careful okay? There are many dangerous things lurking out there. Be safe."

"We will mom!" I said with extreme confidence. She smiled and nodded, letting us go outside of the house. Link and I walked out into the street and mom gave us a wave before shutting the door slowly.

"I really like your parents. They're really sweet Scarlett."

"Yeah, they are. Hopefully we can come back here soon. I hate to keep them waiting too long. Midna was the one who told me we had to go haha," I informed him. Before Link could respond, Midna herself appeared out of his shadow. _"Well yeah! You guys were taking too long and being all lovey-dovey with those two. We have enough time to see your friend Link but that's it! After that, we need to find the Zora prince and have him help us enter the Water Temple. There's no telling what that will be like. You guys are going to get soooooooooo wet~"_ Midna said to us with a teasing flirty tone. I busted out laughing while Link rolled his eyes.

 _"Oh you know it's true Link. Sooooooooooo...Let's get going you two! We have a lot of shit to get done with little time to do it!"_

She had a point. We did have to get going because we were already behind schedule. The only question I had was what would happen if we ran out of time? Like, would the world just be covered in darkness or something? The possibility makes me shiver just thinking about it. I rubbed my bare arms as we walked through the crowded streets and Link glanced at me.

"You cold?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head and let my arms fall to my sides.

"Just thought about something creepy is all. So we're on our way to Telma's Bar?"

He nodded and pointed in front of us. "Yep. The bar is just a few blocks ahead and that's the first place we might be able to find some clues from. Plus, Ilia is there and I just want her to know that her family is alright back in Ordon Village."

"Right," I agreed as we crossed the stone path that intersected with the street and led us to a small flight of concrete stairs. Where we were at was dark and was just a small square hidden from the general public of the city. There was a bar at the bottom of the stairs with a huge sign that read,

 _ **Telma's Bar**_

 _ **If you came to collect taxes, fuck off!**_

I gave the boy beside me a look and he snickered. He walked over to the front door and opened it for me. I smiled, my cheeks going a bit red, and went inside the bar with him close behind me. It was warm in the bar and not a lot of people were inside it. Despite the absence of people in the room, a large voice filled the room as soon as we arrived.

"This is a zora child! I can't diagnose him!"

Following the voice, a short old man walked in from the other room and almost bumped into us. Link and I stepped back with Link putting his arm between the man and me on instinct. The doctor gave us a criticizing look before snorting and leaving the bar. Link looked at me as soon as the man slammed the door and rolled his eyes.

"What an asshole," he said.

"Tell me about it…" I murmured.

"W-Wait! Doctor! You can't leave! I-" A girl ran in the room yelling but stopped when she saw that the man had left the premises. She sighed and looked down at the ground in agitation. Beside me, Link gasped a little and stepped forward. Was this the Ilia he's told me about for the past couple of weeks? She had short dark blonde hair and she was shorter than me only by a little. She looked thin but didn't show any athletic ability whatsoever. After a few seconds she looked up at Link and I and frowned. Link gulped and watched as the girl looked away from us like she didn't know who I or Link was. She walked away from us and went into the other room while Link was speechless next to me.

"What...the…" He whispered before his facial expression saddened in hurt. Oh my gosh, I've never seen him look that sad ever in the whole time I've known him. He took a step back, his face still in shock, and I took ahold of his arm.

"Link?"

I shook his arm gently and he looked at me, his blue eyes wide.

"...Are you okay? Was that Ilia?"

"Y-Yeah...but...it's like she didn't even recognise me…" He said in a quiet tone. By the sound of it, you could tell his voice had almost cracked when he said that. I looked around, trying to think of a way to make him feel better, but couldn't think of anything good.

"Well...I'm sure she just wasn't paying attention. Come on, let's go in there and talk to her," I said, pulling on him to go with me. He was hesitant but followed nonetheless. We turned around the corner and jumped when a group of soldiers just ran past us in a hurry.

"What the hell?" I asked out loud before looking forward again.

"Ahh! There's three brave souls left. They'll escort us to the village, no problem," a large woman with fiery red hair said to us. I blinked and looked around. She was definitely talking about us...But who were we escorting and where!? In front of us, there was the woman I just talked about, Ilia, and a soldier who was scanning a map in his hands. He had his helmet on so I couldn't tell who it was.

"Go get packed up dear," the lady said to Ilia. Ilia nodded and ran into another room of the bar. The woman looked at us again and made her way forward,

"By that look on your face you know her don't you," she said immediately to Link. How the hell did she know that!?

"Uhh...y-yeah…" Link said back to her with confusion overshadowing the sadness he had had a few seconds ago.

"Well I hate to break it to you but she's lost her memory somehow. She doesn't remember much except for her manners and her name. I had the doctor look at her but as you just saw the doctor is an asshole in this town..." She huffed and put her hands on her hips like she couldn't even deal with anything right now. "But anyway...It would be great if you two could escort us to Kakariko Village that would be lovely. There's a shaman there that might know something about her and the Zora boy's condition. You're both carrying some intimidating equipment so I assume you're warriors yes?" She asked. Link and I looked at each other before I smiled a bit.

"You could say that. And sure, we'll escort you. We just came from there a couple of days ago actually. Ummm would you tell us what the doctor said as he was leaving? Something about a Zora?"

"Oh yeah! Just recently, this boy just wandered in here and collapsed. He must be sick or something because he hasn't woken up. Want to see him?"

We nodded and she led us to another room where Ilia was at. She was packing some things inside a bag, but next to her was a elevated bed. On the bed was a young Zora sleeping on it. His skin was very smooth and has a light bluish color to it. He was kind of cute. Not in a, I think he's hot way since he's a kid and that would be weird, but more of a puppy cute way. If that makes any kind of sense...

"At least we found him," Link said to me quietly. I peered at him and he still had that sullen look on his face from Ilia not remembering him. I sighed and touched his arm.

"Link, she has amnesia. She'll get her memory back eventually you just have to be patient okay? Now don't be sad, be glad!" I said cheerfully. He tried to stay gloomy but couldn't help but smile just a little at my positive outlook of the situation. I grinned at him, showing my perfect white teeth, and he smiled even more. I kept my smile as I tapped his chin up and punched his arm playfully. "See? There's no sense in being sad about it. She'll remember eventually and when she does she'll be the same old Ilia," I told him. He nodded after consideration and stared at the back of Ilia, who was still packing stuff in her bag. I couldn't tell what he was thinking by the look on his face. I looked from him and then to the Zora Prince who lay flat on the bed, his chest rising slowly with each breath. He looked like his mother now that I think about it. I wonder why he's sick. It might be because he hasn't been near water for a long time but that's only my guess. After a few seconds, I tore my eyes away from the boy and looked around the warm bar. There was still that mysterious soldier in the other room looking at some map. Was he going with us? If so I might as well get to know him right? I walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi, I'm Scarlett. My friend Link and I will be escorting Telma and Ilia to Kakariko Village. Are you coming with us?" I asked him. He turned around quickly and took a step back. I tilted my head in confusion. This guy was already weird and he hasn't even spoken one word to me yet...

"S-Scarlett? Is that you?" He asked with a shaky muffled voice that was familiar to me. I narrowed my eyes and leaned in close to him.

"Do I know you?" I asked him curiously. He lifted the helmet from his head and I immediately knew who it was. His hair was a flaming pink that looked natural on him with his eyes being a slighter darker tint than his hair. He had bangs that were swept to the side, like mine, and light tanned skin. I grinned hugely and hugged the boy quickly.

"Oh my gosh! Dante! How are you!? I haven't seen you!" I said to him. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "What do you mean? I'm the one that hasn't seen YOU! Where have you been Scarlett!? You just suddenly disappeared and we were all worried about you! You look so...different...Like...What's all this," He asked, pointing to my outfit and the sword sitting in its sheath on my back. Oh yeah...I forgot about that...I grabbed the end of my hair and brushed it with my hands while I tried to think of something to say.

"It's...a long story. I'll tell you about it later when I have more time. But Dante, you finished the knight academy?"

He smiled and nodded.

"Yep. First in my class actually. I'm actually here to escort these women to the gate, but not the village. My boss told me to treat this like a real assignment even though it isn't. Actually, when I'm finished with this my first assignment is to get into Hyrule Castle and see if I can find Princess Zelda there. Did you hear about that? The castle has been closed off ever since the day you went missing. Right now, we have a couple of guards guarding the front doors just in case any suspicious activity occurs but other than that we have no idea where the princess is. No one's seen her in weeks. My guess is that she's hidden somewhere inside the castle and someone is holding her hostage there." He rolled up the map he had in his hands and shook it lightly in front of him. "This is a map of the interior of the castle. I've been studying it for this afternoon. I'm kind of excited for it since I've never been inside the castle before."

"Dante, that's really cool but you have to be careful. You need to bring back up because there's no telling what's in there. Promise me you will," I told him with a sense of urgency in my voice. After all the shit I've been through I would know of the dangers the world contains...Dante looked at me funny and it looked like he was about to laugh. "What's with you? I don't think I've ever heard you talk like this. Usually you just smile and nod," he joked. I rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm just saying be careful okay."

"I know, I will. Umm...So you're gonna tell me where you were for the past few weeks right? Do your parents know you're back?"

"Yeah," I told him, "I told them and explained everything. And yes, I'll tell you later when I get back."

"Where you going now!?"

"I'll tell you later! Gah! Link and I really have to go because it's something important. That's all I'm going to say right now."

"Link?" Said Dante with a raised eyebrow. He looked around and found Link leaning against the wall and staring at the back of Ilia. Dante then looked back at me and a smirk slowly formed on his face. I knew what that meant. He was about to tease me about something. He got close to my ear and crossed his arms.

"Is that why you disappeared? You found yourself a man?" He asked. I glared at him and flicked his forehead.

"Of course not idiot. Link's just my friend. Like my disappearance, I'll tell you how he and I met later. But you see that girl, Ilia? Those two are from the same village and they liked each other I guess. Then the village was raided by these monsters and that's how she ended up here I think. The whole story behind it is still iffy but you get the idea. And don't you talk to me about finding a partner. You're a knight now! You should have women all over you!" I scolded him. He took a fake angry breath and gritted his teeth. "The pink hair and eyes throws girls off I think. I mean I'm muscular so it's not that. Thanks mom for the genetics!" He whined.

"Oh wah wah wah, you'll find a girl who digs it eventually."

"I sure hope so...Oh I also another thing going for me. I have a huge-"

"Alright kiddos! We should get going!" Telma came into the room yelling. Dante stopped talking and laughed to himself. Ilia gasped happily and zipped up the bag she had been putting her stuff in for the past few minutes. She then stood up and ran to the door, her feet stomping in place in excitement. "Come on! Let's go! The Zora boy needs us more than ever!" She exclaimed. Dante, finding her annoying, sighed and picked up the Zora prince before heading out with her. I walked over to Link and noticed he hadn't moved a muscle. This whole Ilia thing was really getting to him wasn't it?

"Come on Link. No sense in just standing here," I said, grabbed his hand in mine and leading him out of the bar with Telma behind us. Once we were out, she locked the door of her bar and looked to Dante to take the lead to the gate.

"I had a carriage prepared prior to me arriving so it should be at the gate," he informed her. She nodded with a smile and looked to Link and I.

"You two might as well get everything you need from Castle Town now. It might take us some time to plan out a route over to the village so go on and do some last-minute shopping." Telma slapped Dante's back with a bellowing laugh and they, along with the Zora prince and Ilia, began walking to the gate. Last-minute shopping? Was there anything we were forgetting? We have all of the food we need to last and we sure as hell have the equipment so...What am I forgetting? I know there's something...I glanced at Link and he was still frowning. Ugh, I hate that look on him. He looks so much better when he's happy and smiling. I turned and pinched his cheeks.

"Don't get mad, get glad Hero boy!" I repeated.

"I'm trying very hard to be positive about this but Ilia is starting to piss me off."

"Well it's not like she can help it Link. Amnesia is a very secretive condition. No one knows about it. But I think she'll regain her memory sooner or later. You just have to help her remember okay?"

"Okay...Hey, weren't you going to show me something at the fountain?" Link suddenly told me. I'm kind of glad he changed the subject because I hated to see him so depressed like this. Also, I can't believe he remembered that! I nodded and grabbed his hand.

"Yeah! I was! I almost forgot," I yelled as I pulled him with me to the central town square. After passing a few streets we could finally see the shooting water of the grand fountain in the distance. The water always looked so clear and drinkable; though, I wouldn't take my chances. Link and I walked up to the fountain and then I turned to him.

"Alright Link, do you have a rupee?" I asked him. He gave a confused look but took one out of his pocket anyway. He handed it to me and I began to show him what I was talking about when I said you get to make a wish.

"Okay, so basically you just throw your rupee in the fountain and you make a wish! Sometimes, that wish comes true. However, it won't come true if you tell anyone what you wished for. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah," he replied, "but I don't really see the point Scarlett…" He told me, rubbing the back of his head with a chuckle. I giggled and reminded him that it was just something fun to do when you were bored. I put the rupee in his warm hands and closed his fingers around the green gem. "Okay Link, make a wish and then throw it in the fountain. And it has to be a real believable wish! No bullshit wish that will never ever come true!"

He nodded and closed his eyes. He smiled for a second and then tossed the rupee into the water with a splash. He opened his bright blue eyes again and shrugged at me.

"What did you wish for?" I asked.

"I can't tell you remember?" He told me, grinning.

"I know. I just wanted to see if you were listening. Now don't you feel reborn by this whole experience Link?"

He just gave me a smile and that's all I needed. It was worth a shot, haha. Gods he was such a guy…

"Well...What do you want to do now? Telma said that we have time to do whatever we want. I just did what I wanted so what do you want to do?" I asked the blonde next to me. He put his hands to his chin in thought and closed his eyes to concentrate. Instead of him giving an answer, Midna did it for him. She came out of his shadow very sneakily and floated around us in her dark aura.

" _You know, you guys can always learn another hidden skill from that skeleton guy. It shows on the map that he's right outside Castle Town. Who knows, whatever he teaches you might be useful in the next dungeon,"_ the twilight imp recommended to us with that flirty tone that was always present in her voice. That actually wasn't a bad idea. Coming from her, I would've expected something perverted or wrong. Even Link was liking what she just said and he DID NOT like Midna. As far as I know he didn't anyway.

"Good idea Midna! Come on Scarlett, let's go."

Link turned and headed for the outer gate of the town while Midna gave me a surprised look.

" _Did you see that!? He said nice things to me! My life is complete~"_ She murmured in a dreamy tone. I giggled as she drifted into my shadow instead of Link's. I quickly caught up to him and together we left the densely populated area. We crossed the wooden bridge that led out to Hyrule Field and looked to our right to find the familiar golden wolf sitting idly by on a stone ledge. It turned its head at us and tilted its head. It was so cute!

"Shade! We're back!" I yelled to the wolf. He barked in return and our environment transformed into a white glowing haven with just the three of us dwelling inside of it. In front of us was Shade in all his skeletal armored glory. He bowed to us and we bowed in return.

" _It is good to see you again young Hero and Heroine,"_ he said to us in his ever so polite voice.

"It's good to see you too shade. What have you been up to?" Link asked. Shade looked around before replying. " _I have just been around. I see you two have had quite the journey so far. Yes?"_

"You can say that again," I said. He hummed in thought and raised his sword and shield.

" _Well, I hope now that I can teach you another hidden skill to aide you on your heroic journey. Do you remember the last skill I taught you not long ago?"_

Link and I nodded and he, of course, asked us to perform it for him again. The last skill we learned was "shield bash" so we simply just pushed our shields forward and then slashed our swords downward. It was as simple as that. Shade looked satisfied with our little display so he continued on to the next hidden skill. I was practically hopping in place because I was too excited.

Link just stared at me and there was no telling what he was thinking…

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

Wow, Scarlett is so cute when she's excited. She's probably the only girl I know that would ever get excited over learning some new weapon skill. It was pretty cool that she liked doing stuff like this. She didn't look like a tomboy but she was when it came to her personality. And I don't know about any other guy, but that's attractive. Not saying I like her in that way or anything. And now because of the way Ilia is acting, I don't think I like her in that way either anymore. I know she can't help that her memory got mixed up somehow, but damn it, Scarlett and I go through all of the shit we've gone through so far only to have her not even remember me!? I call bullshit on that.

" _Are you ready for your next hidden skill?"_ Shade asked the both of us. We nodded and he got into his battle stance.

" _Very well. The next hidden skill you will be learning is the_ ' _ **Back Slice'**_ _. To perform this skill. You must first target your enemy. Once you are focused you must jump and roll to the side so that you are now facing your opponent's back like so."_ He jumped and then rolled behind us in a flash before raising his sword.

" _You will then be given the opportunity to hit your enemy without them being able to counter your attack. This skill is very effective when your target has on front body armor. Understood? Demonstrate the skill on me,"_ he told us. I let Scarlett go first and of course we both did awesome on the skill. Shade looked impressed even though he rarely showed any emotion or personality.

" _Very good young Hero and Heroine. You are on the right track to victory and I believe that the both of you will save this land soon enough."_

Scarlett's face turned red and she smirked. "Why thank you~" She said slyly. I chuckled and crossed my arms.

" _Did you have more questions for me young Heroine?"_ Shade asked the blonde girl as he watched the both of us. I looked to her and her green eyes went wide for a second before going back to normal. She opened her mouth to respond but then closed it again. I'm pretty sure she was thinking...but you never know. After a few seconds Scarlett grinned and actually said words this time.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. I've been meaning to ask you this for a long time. Back in the Goron Mines we both found these bows. See?" She took out her legendary bow and pointed at the one I kept holstered behind my back. Shade stared at the bows and nodded slowly.

"...They both say in golden letters 'Hero's bow'. So I'm guessing they belonged to the hero before us right? I was just wondering if this used to be your bow…" She murmured her question. I rose my eyebrows in thought since I wanted to hear his answer on this one. Shade did not say anything and stayed silent for a long time.

Did he really used to be the chosen hero or is he someone else? Man I wish he would just answer the fucking question already!

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Yeah I cut it shorter than I probably needed to but I really needed to get this out. I really hope you guys like it. I liked writing it since we're back on track for the main storyline of the game. I have to work in the morning, which sucks by the way, but I'm gonna work on my other story as soon as I get home and then I can work on this one again as soon as I finish that one! Please review or comment on the story and please tell me what you think about it so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	15. Chapter 15: Escort

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter this Legend of Zelda story! It is now 2017 and hopefully this year isn't shit one like the last few have been haha. But I think that if I can make the stories that I write good than that'll make everyone happier at least a little bit. I have no idea how I'm gonna do this chapter but I know I'm just gonna do it. I might just pull everything from my ass lol. Anyway, please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think of the story so far! We're about to be in the Water Temple so there's that! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 15: Escort

 **(Link's POV)**

The armored skeleton stared at Scarlett with his bright ruby-colored eye for a few seconds without moving. His body was stiff and anyone could tell he was making a decision inside his head intently. He then took a step back and bowed before us.

" _It would be in your best interest to ask me this question in the growing future young Heroine. Only then will you discover the answer you seek."_

With that he turned around and disappeared along with the white environment around us. Scarlett and I were both met with the bright sunset in the distance and Hyrule Field in all it's naturistic glory.

Scarlett turned to me and threw her hands up with a look of disappointment.

"Ugh! What the hell does that mean!?"

I laughed a little and slipped my sword back into its sheath. "Well, at least we learned another hidden skill right?"

"I guess...but I'm still kind of pissed that he ignored my question. That just means I have to wait another couple of days! Gods, I just want to know!" She screamed out, making some birds in the grass around us fly away. She then sighed and put her arms down, resting them to her sides. "As you can see I'm incredibly impatient," she murmured with a frown. I smiled and shook my head. I raised my hand up to her and opened it up to reveal my palm.

"I don't mind. I could say the same for myself. Now come on let's get going back to Kakariko Village," I told her. Her frown flipped into a sweet smile and she took my hand in hers. It wasn't that we were holding hands and walking over to Telma, more like me leading the way with our hands connected. Yeah I know, I made that sound super awkward but we're not a couple alright! Anyway, enough of me talking to my conscious, Scarlett and I walked over to the other side of Castle Town and found Telma and Ilia loading up all of their stuff inside a carriage that was attached to two horses. A knight with pinkish hair, who was apparently Scarlett's friend, was helping them load the last few bags inside the cart. I was so caught up in the way Ilia was acting earlier that I never really got a good look of him. Heck, I haven't even gotten the chance to talk to him. By the way Scarlett talks about him he sounds pretty cool so maybe we can become friends after all this shit is over with. When Telma saw that Scarlett and I had arrived her face turned into a huge smile and she climbed up on the wagon right behind the horses.

"You two are just in time! We're ready when you are!" She said to us loudly. Ilia nodded along with her and looked at me.

"Yeah what she said..." she paused as if she were trying to remember something. At least, that's what I had hoped she was doing. "What are your names again?" She asked. You better believe that made me mad. It was rude and she should remember me, damn it! We were friends for sixteen fucking years! Come on, don't tell me you don't remember me! Just as I was about to snap at her I felt Scarlett hold my arm and answer for me. Her grip was gentle as she spoke.

"I'm Scarlett and this is Link," she told the girl in front of us. Ilia smiled and told us it was nice to meet us before entering the carriage with the Zora prince inside as well. Scarlett looked at me and rubbed my forearm. She didn't say anything because she could sense that I was frustrated so I sighed softly and looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered.

"Remember what I said," she instructed me before patting my arm and going over to her friend. He looked like he was just about to leave.

"Hey, you leaving?" She asked him. He nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm going to find me a princess today!"

Scarlett giggled and gave him a hug before saying goodbye. She told him that she would be back soon and he nodded in understanding. They both waved to each other and Scarlett came walking back over to me. Apparently, Telma had been staring at us the whole time because she was tapping her finger impatiently on the edge of the wagon cart. "Are we going to go!?" She asked in her loud voice. It made us flinch but we nodded nonetheless.

"Hold on let me call my horse."

I looked around for one of the plants I call Epona with and found one blowing softly in the wind's breeze. I snatched a part of it up and blew Epona's specific tune. Sure enough, she came galloping towards me from the distance and stopped right in front of me. I've always been amazed in how talented she is as a horse. Like, how in the world can she even hear the tune from that far away!? I think we can all agree that she's a badass horse! I hopped on top of her and then helped Scarlett jump up behind me. Telma smiled and made the horses in front of her start moving in the direction of the village. I turned to Scarlett behind me and told her my plan during this escort mission.

"Alright so in case any enemies attack us, and you know they will with our luck, I'm gonna drive and I need you to shoot them with your bow and arrow. Good?" I asked in assurance. She smiled and took the long bow out of her boot. I had forgotten that she had told me that her boot was a convenient place to put your bow. I just give mine to Midna and she stores it away somewhere. I don't really ask any questions about it.

"Of course!" She said happily. I grinned and added, "Awesome! And I'll try to help as much as I can without making us both fall off," I said with a laugh. She nodded and tightened her grip around my waist. I, on instinct, flexed and I could hear her giggle behind me which only made me blush even more. Why in the hell did I fucking do that? Ugh...Whatever...Anyway, the journey to Kakariko Village was slow due to Telma being a terrible driver. That, or the horses she was commanding really sucked. Nonetheless, it took us about fifteen minutes to get to the first gate of Hyrule Field. See, there were three gates in Hyrule field; each leading to a different region of the humongous landmass. Each gate had a lock on it and only merchants and travelers with permission from their village or town had access to a key. In this case, I was the holder of the key so once we reached a gate I would have to unlock it for us. If it were just me and Scarlett I would just have Epona jump us over the stupid gate...BUT...I HAVE TO BE CONSIDERATE OF TELMA AND ILIA. Can you tell I'm kind of pissed at both of them? Telma for being annoying and loud and Ilia for...well you already know why I'm mad at her.

"Link! The gate is straight ahead. You got the key!?" Telma asked over her shoulder. I replied to her.

"Yeah! I got it!" I yelled as we reached the gate. I hopped off of Epona and quickly unlocked the obstacle that was before us. Telma and her carriage passed through along with Scarlett and Epona. Scarlett smiled at me as I put the lock back onto the gate and held her hand out for me. I took it gladly and I was actually a little surprised at how strong she was. She pulled me up without any problems! I weigh like 145 pounds or somewhere around there so that's pretty impressive of her. I bet that's a result of training with me. I'm so proud!

"Wow Scarlett you're super strong!" I exclaimed. Her cheeks burned red and she looked away with a smile on her face.

"I'm getting better. I've actually been doing some exercises to make sure I'm a good partner to you."

I rose an eyebrow as we all continued our journey to Kakariko village and smirked.

"Oh yeah? When did you do those? And you're an awesome partner Scarlett. I couldn't ask for a better one," I said to her in all honesty. She brought her hand to her chest and laughed a little like she was embarrassed for a moment. "Thank you hehe. I usually do them when you're asleep or when you have to go get something for us in a shop. It passes the time and keeps me in shape. I don't want to get fat!" She joked. I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth but she put her hand over it. I guess she knew what I was going to say. "Yeah yeah, I'm never gonna get fat I know but I still feel like I will. Ha, wow...I even know what your next sentence will be now! We really are best friends now huh?"

"Hell yeah we are. I-"

An arrow then flew past both of our faces and landed in the grass next to us. It only took three seconds and the ends of our hair blew with the arrow's speed. Our hair dropped back in its place before we knew what actually happened. We both turned to our left and saw an upcoming boar sprinting its way over to us. There was one of those green monster things riding it too. A bulblin I think they were called. He's the one, I assume, that just shot that arrow so he's about to get his ass whooped. I looked to Scarlett behind me and she had already drawn the string of her bow back with a sharp arrow connected to it. I heard her exhale quietly before letting her arrow fly. The projectile landed right between the bulblin's eyes and he fell off his ride along with his boar.

"Nice shot Scarlett!"

"Thanks! But I think there's more than one! Look!" She yelled as she pointed ahead of us. I turned back around as we were coming up to the Great Bridge of Hylia and saw a familiar foe. That damn bulblin king was waiting for us! I thought I freaking knocked him off a bridge the last time I faced him! How is he still living!? I verbally groaned and looked back to Scarlett.

"Alright Scarlett. You weren't with me the last time but you saw how I defeated him right!? This time, I'm just gonna drive and let you do your thing. But, when he swings I need you to duck with me okay!?" I asked of her. She nodded, almost nervous-like, and I gave her a reassuring smile.

"It'll be okay! I know you can do it!" I yelled as we reached the bridge. Telma stopped a few feet in front of it and I gave her the signal to wait there until crossing the bridge would be safe. The bulblin king grinned a sickly smile at us and rotated the tusks of his boar at us. I gripped Epona's reins tighter and took a deep breath. We then kicked off and it was like our last encounter all over again. Except this time, I had my expert archer of a partner with me. I was a little scared for her safety but I knew it would turn out okay. Epona's steps became faster as we neared the king. His boar made a roaring sound as we got within a few yards of each other. Scarlett pulled her bowstring back and shot the arrow to hit the king in his shoulder. He cried out and swung his clubbed weapon spastically.

"Get down!" I yelled as I bowed my head. Scarlett did as well and laid her face on my back. I felt my heart pulse faster and bit my lip to focus on the king. This was no time to blush! We reached the end of the bridge and I turned Epona around to face the bulblin king again. He was facing us but was a little busy trying to get the arrow out of his shoulder. You could hear his cries of pains all the way from where we were. I'm actually surprised that he didn't just go for Telma and Ilia since they were like...right there...but as long as they didn't notice that we're good!

"Wow that arrow's really stuck in there," I said. I heard the string of Scarlett's bow being pulled back again and I glanced at her with a confused look on my face.

"I'm gonna hit him in the head from here."

My blue eyed widened at what she said.

"What? You think you can make it all the way from over here?" I asked in uncertainty. She gave me a "mhmm" and shot her arrow. We both watched as the arrow split through the air and landed right between the king's eyes. I felt my guy behavior appear like I just saw an awesome play in a sport.

"Wow! Heeyyoooo!" I cheered. The king didn't even know what hit him! His red eyes crossed to the bridge of his nose before he stumbled. He then toppled over the side of the bridge motionless while his boar was just like "meh, whatever". I was still cheering before Scarlett started laughing.

"You liked that?" She asked me. I turned to her and grinned.

"Hell yeah, that was epic! You're freaking awesome!" I yelled happily. She tilted her head up in pride and I chuckled, making Epona walk us to the other side of the bridge. Once there, I patted the bottom of the king's boar and it started squealing and running into the field. Oh well...I looked to Telma and gave her a thumb's up.

"Come on! We still got two gates to unlock next!"

"Right! I knew you two would be the perfect escorts for us!" She said with that loud voice of hers. For once she wasn't annoying me. I took the lead this time and rode us across the bridge. There was a small valley at the end of it and that's where the second gate was. So far, we haven't seen anymore enemies but the third gate had the longest journey so I wasn't expecting a peaceful exploration. Unlocking the second gate, I let Telma pass into Hyrule Field's largest region and jumped back onto my beloved horse. By this time, the sun had gone down and the moon was starting to rise up from the mountains. It's sunlight was bright but it was still too dark to even see the grass on the sides of the dirt road. Ilia took this time to light some lanterns right outside the carriage she was in. The light helped but I would never acknowledge that since I was still mad at her.

"I'm surprised that we were able to find the Zora prince so soon."

Scarlett's voice knocked me out of my daze and I looked at her while stretching my back out.

"Yeah maybe Midna won't be so pissed at us now," I joked. She snorted in agreement and rested her forehead on my shoulder.

"I'm so tired..." she said quietly, "We did a lot today..."

"Yeah, as soon as we get back to the village we can go to bed okay?" I told her comfortably. She nodded and lifted her head back up. "I would go to sleep but I just know that we'll have more assholes showing up. I hope they know that I'm just going to kill them all. Oh, here they come," She said, drawing back a new arrow on her bow. She was right, There were more bulblins running up to us along with these large birds that kind of creeped me out. However, they were no match for Scarlett. She shot each of them as soon as she saw them. That's until one of the bulblin shot a fire arrow at the carriage. A part of it caught on fire and I cursed out loud as Scarlett and I could both hear Ilia screaming inside.

"Link, what are-" Scarlett stopped when she saw what I was doing. I didn't know if this was going to work but it was worth a try. I took out my gale boomerang out and threw it at the carriage with a grunt. The boomerang created a magical whirlwind around it, and sure enough, the fire went out. I pumped my fist as the boomerang came back to my hand while Scarlett was in awe. Now I was the awesome badass! Luckily, Scarlett killed the bulblin before he could shoot another fire arrow at the carriage or Telma. Man, this was getting exhausting. Scarlett and I have probably killed about twenty enemies by now. Fortunately, the third and last gate finally came into view. And behind that gate was just a short two minute ride to Kakariko Village. I jumped off Epona again and ran over to the gate to unlock it. Again, Telma passed through and went ahead to the village. Scarlett rode Epona past it and stopped to wait for me. I quickly locked the gate and turned around with a smile. Scarlett was smiling back at me but then she gave a horrified gasp all of a sudden. I was confused before I looked down to see an arrow on the ground dripping with blood. That's when I felt the sting on my arm. When I say sting, I mean it felt like someone had whipped my left tricep over and over again with a damn cactus! I grunted in pain and crouched down with my eyes closed tightly in an attempt to hide the pain.

"Fuck you!" I heard Scarlett yell as she shot her arrow and killed whoever had shot me. She ran to me with a scared look on her face and laid her hand on my back.

"Link! Are you okay!?" She asked, her voice cracking. I opened one eye to her and then closed it again with another grunt escaping my lips. She gave off a small whimper and helped me up.

"Come on, the spring is straight ahead. Maybe it'll heal most of that up," She said. Her words were soothing to me but the pain was all still there. I held my left arm and could feel blood dripping in droplets with every step I took. She helped me back onto Epona and then took her reins. She commanded Epona to sprint to the village and she did just that. I was breathing faster and faster. I could feel my vision fading because of how much blood I was losing. My mind felt fuzzy. I didn't even notice it but I was now gasping for air for no reason in particular. I couldn't hear myself through my dazed trance.

"We're almost there Link! Here, drink this! It'll lessen the pain!" Scarlett said to me as she dug inside her bag and took out a small potion that we had bought back in my own village. I took the bottle with a shaky hand and some of the liquid from the red potion flew out as I lifted it to my mouth. I got most of it down though and I felt its effects settle in. My blurred vision became clearer and the pain got easier to handle but still hurt like a bitch. Once we reached the spring in Kakariko Village, Scarlett immediately helped me jump down from Epona and enter the healing water. She cupped some water and splashed it on my wound every few seconds. That stung as well and I cried out the first time she did it. She apologized and rubbed some water in the deep cut.

"I'm sorry Link but the pain will go away soon. It'll be okay..." She said slowly. I looked down and watched the cut start to close. It kept closing until it just looked like a normal cut from swiping your arm on a thorn or something like that. I guess the spring can't heal really bad wounds entirely so I'm going to keep that in mind the next time we need it. I exhaled strongly and rubbed my arm. I winced and Scarlett started tying a cloth around it.

"This will help it in case the cut opens back up again," she told me as she tied the cloth in a knot. She then looked into my eyes and gave me a sad look. She rubbed my arm and then gave me a hug.

"Scarlett..." I tried to say.

"I'm sorry...I should've been paying attention..." She said. I sighed and hugged her back.

"You don't really blame yourself do you?" I asked her calmly now that my pain had gone away. She nodded and I sighed again.

"Don't. This is not your fault and I'm fine! See!?" I pulled away and showed her my arm with a smile. She gave me that sad look again and I took her hand in mine. "Don't blame yourself just because one of those bulblin things managed to injure me. He would've gotten the upper hand if you hadn't been there to kill him so you saved me Scarlett. Thank you," I said, bringing my smile back. I leaned in for another hug and I could finally feel her smile again. And that's all that mattered to me right now.

"Okay...But...at least let me make you dinner tonight!" She said, the expression on her face becoming like her usual self again. I grinned and hugged her even tighter.

"Sure, as long as you let me help..."

"Deal," she whispered as we both stood up from the spring. Our clothes were wet but I don't think either of us cared as we made our way over to where Telma's carriage was.

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

I'm very surprised that I didn't cry when trying to heal Link's wounds. I could feel the tears coming but I never let them out because of how much he tried to cheer me up. I don't know, I just hate seeing a loved one in pain. I'm grateful that we were near the spring when that happened or Link might've been in terrible shape. And of course I blame myself for him getting hurt. I should've seen that bulblin and killed him right then and there. But, I'm going to try and forget it from now on. Link doesn't like it when I beat myself over stuff. So enough about thinking about this! We have to go talk to Telma! Link and I walked over to where their carriage was and I was surprised to find that Telma and Ilia had already managed to unpack everything that they brought for the ride over here. Renaldo, the shaman, was also outside and his dark brown eyes brightened when he caught sight of us walking towards him.

"Link, Scarlett I did not know you would be here as well. I do hope you two are doing as well as the last time I saw you," He said with a flat-lined smile. Link told him we were and that we had to escort Telma and Ilia over here.

"Telma said that you might be able to help the Zora prince since the doctor over in Castle Town wasn't able to," Link commented. Shaman looked over at where the Zora prince was lying and hummed in thought. "I will examine him but the only thing I can tell so far about him is that he seems to be breathing normal. He might just have a fever is all. Do either of you need any examinations?" He asked. I was just about to tell him about the cut on Link's arm but Link quickly declined the offer. He probably just didn't want to be a hassle because that's how Link is. Curse his polite personality!

"I'm sure the Zora prince is fine so there is no need for you to worry. I will prepare a room for you two tonight so I would advise that you take a walk while I do that. I will inform you when it is ready," Renaldo said to us.

"Alright thanks," we both replied before he turned and walked over to the Zora prince. I turned to Link and put my hands on his hips.

"Why didn't you tell him about your cut? What if it opens up again?" I asked while tapping my foot. Link gave me a silly smile and shrugged.

"I'll be alright. I'm strong remember!" He announced, pumping his fist with a confident grin on his face. I swear, even when he's hurt he's still the same old guy. But I guess that's his best quality. To me it is anyway.

"I know, I know. But just tell me whenever it starts to hurt really bad again okay? I'll patch it right up."

"Okay I will. Scarlett, you're the bestest friend a guy could have!" He said, throwing his arm over my shoulder and bringing me close to him playfully. I laughed and pushed against him. "Is 'bestest' even a word?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged again carelessly and looked up at the moon. His smile then went down and he looked at me with an annoyed look. I tilted my head in confusion and asked him what was wrong.

"I just got the urge to howl at the moon...Ugh...even when human I still do wolf things!" he yelled in agitation. I laughed and had to agree with him on that. I've recently found myself smelling things before I eat them. I don't do it in a weird way! I just kind of sniff it as I'm taking a bite. I don't remember doing that before. I also feel as if I always have to play or go for a run. It's...just a weird thing okay?

 _"Young heroes."_

What the hell. Who said that? Link and I looked around until Link pointed in the direction of the village graveyard. There she was! It was the Zora prince's mother, Queen Rutela. We last saw her back near the river and she had asked us to find her son. I guess we did that haha so she's in front of us again. She smiled and waved us over to her. We both followed her to the graveyard as she floated away from us and were met with the sight of a multitude of tombstones. This place was creepy but it seemed like the Queen was still moving backwards in all her glowing glory. She led us all the way to the back of the graveyard and then presented a small opening in the mountain's wall for us.

"I never knew that was there..." I commented.

"Me neither but if she wants us to go through it we might as well!" He said with a laugh as he got down on his knees and crawled through the opening. I looked at the queen and she gave me a nod to follow Link's example. So I got down on my knees and crawled through this hole in the mountain that I've never seen before. It took me a minute, but I finally managed to reach the other side. Here, it was like a whole different atmosphere. There was water everywhere with a variety of fish swimming in it. The water was so blue and clear that I found myself staring at it for a second before Link nudged me.

"Huh?"

He pointed ahead of us and then dove in the water. I looked up and there was a small tomb with a beautiful flower laid on it on the other side of the water. I didn't really feel like getting wet but how could you honestly say no to a Zora queen? I mean really. Jumping in, the water surged through my body and cooled it off instantly. When I reached the other side I immediately started wringing my hair out and put it in a ponytail. Link just stood beside me laughing since he didn't care about how he looked ever. Well maybe how his hair was styled but that was it. Queen Rutela appeared in front of us and brought her hands to her chest.

 _"Thank you young heroes for bringing my son back to me. I promised you something you would need to get in your next destination and I will present you with that right now. The item is in this tomb; however, I will take it out for you. Please close your eyes for three seconds and then look down at yourselves,"_ she told us in her sweet motherly voice. I closed my eyes, just like she said, and then opened them to find that I was wearing something completely different! I was wearing something blue now! And so was Link! This time, my outfit looked almost exactly like Link's. My regular green outfit compared to his tunic is a little different so this was unusual to me. The outfit we were wearing was a blue tunic that was covered in scales all around the chest and torso. An engraved metal headpiece covered the top of my head, like Link's, but my hair was still loose and free with a little pendent in it that looked like the one the Queen and the Prince had on. I think they call it the Zora's Sapphire since it's like their race's symbol or something. Nonetheless, It was so pretty! The metal headpiece could almost be considered like a headband for me. Link's hair was covered in a blue hat that looked exactly like his green one, only just a bit longer. Looking down at our feet, we were wearing flipper-like boots. I assume these would help us when swimming. Under them and covering our legs, there was a navy-colored clothing that was tight and extremely thin. To top everything off, armor covered our thighs completely and our forearms. Looking at Link and myself, I have to admit...We look pretty sexy in this!

 _"A perfect fit! I'm so glad. These were made by my late husband who knew you would come sooner or later. With this armor, you will be able to breathe underwater without a problem. Because of this, you can now enter The Lakebed Temple and continue your quest to save Hyrule. I thank you again for bringing back my son for me..."_ She suddenly paused and her voice got quiet. _"When my son wakes up...Please let him know that his mother loves him with all of her heart. Tell him that I will always be watching over him to make sure he is safe and sound. Will you do that for me?"_

Oh Hylia, I was freaking crying after she said that! I'm a sucker for these kinds of moments...

"Of course we will," I said between sniffs. The Queen smiled at us one last time before fading into the air. Her disappearing body lit up the whole area and sparkling glitter replaced where she used to be in front of us. Link looked at me and smiled.

"Are you okay?" He asked, almost like he knew I would cry during that. I wiped my eyes and gave a small laugh.

"Y-yeah...I'm so lame..."

"Nah," he said, "it just says you have a big heart. Now come on, I bet our room is ready," he told me, jumping back into the water and swimming to the other side. I followed and we walked all the way back to the center of Kakariko Village.

"I just love these new outfits. We look pretty good!" I said, twirling around. Link looked down at his own tunic and played with the scales that rounded his chest.

"It just has an aqua feel to it, don't you think? I...Oh...my gods...Link save me," I suddenly cried out in panic. His blue eyes went wide at my sudden fear as I hid behind him and buried my face in his back. He seemed stunned for a second before he looked ahead of us. He then calmed down and went back to fidgeting with the scales on his tunic. I don't know how he wasn't scared! It was the Postman! You know, the one with the short-shorts! He scares the shit out of me, I don't care how much bravery I'm supposed to have because I'm the chosen Heroine! He came running up to us in all his pedophilic fashion. Link acted like he never even noticed him and stood in a "large" stance. By that, he took up more room with his legs and arms like he was covering me up from the creepy Postman. He's such a great friend! The Postman didn't seem to notice as he took out a letter and did that weird pose thing he always does when presenting something.

"Ta-da! You have a letter Mr. Link! Here you go!"

He gave Link the letter and Link laughed nervously.

"Haha...thank you so much!"

"It was my pleasure! Well see ya! Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!"

Yeah...That's the sound he makes when he runs. That's how I was able to notice him so soon. And Thank Hylia he's gone. I thought I was going to die.

"Alright, the coast is clear Scarlett," Link said to me. I sighed in relief and got off his back. "I can't even thank you enough Link! I swear that guy...Ahh! I don't even want to think about it! What does the letter say? Maybe that will cleanse the lingering thoughts inside my mind..." I suggested. Link shook his head with a laugh and opened the letter. Apparently, it was from the bomb maker of Kakariko Village. If that was the case why didn't he just come tell us whatever's in the letter instead of sending us one? Pshhh dumbass...

"What's it say?"

"Well, it says the Barnes' Bomb shop has a new type of bomb. He calls it the 'water bomb'...How original...But what perfect timing! It says here that the bombs can be used in the water and underwater so they might be useful to us in the Lakebed Temple. The shop's just over there. Let's get a few of those bombs and then go to sleep because I'm worn out."

"Yeah me too," I agreed with him, "And instead of dinner I'll just pay for the bombs! I don't think neither of us have an appetite after seeing the Postman so it all works out!" I cheered. Link rolled his eye and led the way to Barnes' Bombs. Inside, it was still the same old place. The walls were ugly and it was hot in here but I didn't feel like whining about it right now. Link and I walked up to the counter and Barnes, the bomb maker, grinned at us through his dusty glasses.

"I knew you would get my letter! I've already prepared a bag of water bombs for ya! That'll be 200 rupees for fifteen bombs!"

200 rupees! Holy crap! I took out my tiny purse and looked inside to see two fifty rupees and then a ten rupee. I groaned and slowly looked at Link. He was smiling and was already in the process of handing me the remaining ninety rupees. I sighed in guilt and handed all of the money to Barnes. The damn bomb maker grinned devilishly and handed us our bombs. I took them and left without saying another word to him. First, the bombs were too much, and second Link had to help me pay for it when I said I would pay for it. It just put me in a bad mood.

"I'm sorry," I told him on our way to Renaldo's home. He waved his hand at me and shook his head. "Don't sweat it. Those bombs were way over priced anyway. We'll gain those rupees back!" He said with confidence. I envied it as we walked up to the front door of Renaldo's home. Link knocked on it and the shaman answered it quickly, as if he were standing at the door when Link knocked.

"Ah, you're back. Your room is ready. Follow me."

He let us enter the home before closing the door behind us. He then walked us over to a separate hall that didn't seem to have anyone in it and stopped at one of the doors.

"The kids are sleeping in the other hall along with the Zora boy. I've checked on him and he should be awake by morning. Have a good night young ones," He wished us as he opened the door. We thanked him and he left to go back to the main living room. I have to say, the inside of his house is much larger than I thought it was. Once he was gone, Link and I started stretching our sore muscles from the long day. You know you're tired when you can't help but groan when you stretch your arms out. Looking at the room, it was a simple one. There were two beds with a small window in between them. That's good because I can look at the stars as I'm going to sleep. I looked at Link and he was taking off the flipper boots the Queen had given him earlier. I started to as well and then thought about our old green outfits. What happened to those? I was just about to ask before Midna came out of my shadow and threw our uniforms on the wooden floor.

 _"I took care of your original outfits, thank you very much. I was even nice enough to fold them so you're welcome. I'm going for a midnight stroll. I'll be in shadow form so it's not like anyone will see me. See ya~"_ She said, twinkling her fingers at us and floating through the window.

"Thank you!" Link yelled to her before yawning with his arms over his head. He sounded very tired. I don't blame him though. My eyes were threatening to close every single second that I was awake. Unfortunately with these hero outfits, it takes some time to take everything off. For the next five minutes or so, Link and I spent it taking off our boots and armor. We left our tunics on since we only had our underwear underneath. I'd be weird to be in the same room as Link with only my bra and panties on haha. But anyway, the last thing I did was let my hair down. It was dry now and I set the Zora Sapphire pendent on my folded uniform at the foot of the bed. I brushed my long blonde hair until it was smooth and then braided my golden bangs. I thought it looked pretty. Link, on the other hand, did not have to do anything with his hair because he was a guy. Plus, his hair was always perfect! I don't even know how but he had the most perfect hair in all of Hyrule. Besides me of course!

"I like your hair like that," he suddenly said after looking at me for a minute. I continued braiding it as I looked at him, my face becoming flushed from the compliment.

"Really? Thank you!" I replied with a smile. He smiled back and laid his head on his pillow. He yawned again and just watched me finish up with my hair.

"So...You ready to go into the Lakebed Temple tomorrow?" He asked me. I hummed in approval and laid down as well.

"Yeah, I hope it's better than the Goron Mines. But, there's no telling what kind of monsters lurk inside that place. At least we know it won't be blazing hot. I just hope neither of us get hurt when going through it though..." I muttered. He frowned a little bit and sighed. "I pretty much expect one of us to, to be honest. Nothing major but we always get hurt in one way or another every time we go inside a dungeon. We'll be okay if we stick together. We are the best team in Hyrule right?"

I smiled and nodded my head against my pillow.

"Right."

He gave me one last grin before he finally closed his eyes and turned off the lantern that we had set on the floor between us.

"Well goodnight Scarlett. Sweet dreams..." He murmured quietly. I replied back the same. "You too Link. Goodnight," I said to him before closing my eyes. It didn't take long for me to feel that I was about to fall asleep. However, I do believe that I heard Link's breathing slow before I did so he beat me to it. Do I care? No. All I care is that I get to sleep in a warm comfy bed tonight. I hope Midna's not doing anything reckless out there…

* * *

The next morning, I opened my eyes slowly and groaned at the burning sunlight that pierced through the window. I glanced at the clock on the wall and it was just about noon. We really were tired! I looked over at Link and he was still sleeping peacefully in his bed. I sat up quietly and stood up with a yawn. I walked over to Link and laid my hand on his shoulder.

"Link...Wake up…" I said as smoothly as I could. No one likes to get waken up by someone who is violently screaming at them.

"Uh…"

He woke up slowly and then blinked at me a few times.

"Scarlett?"

"Wake up sleepy head. We have a long day ahead of us!" I said to him with a smile. He blinked again and then smiled on his own.

"Hell yeah!" He yelled as he sat up and started putting on all of his equipment. He looked adorable with those flipper boots on his feet hehe. Don't judge me! He probably thought the same about me! Nonetheless, when we got all of our clothes back on we just decided to go straight to the temple. No sense in sitting here and talking to anybody. There were the kids but they were still asleep by the time we had gathered all of our stuff and headed on over to Lake Hylia. Midna joined us there and laughed in the way she always does.

" _These people of Hyrule are super kinky!"_ She yelled to us. Link and I looked at each other and then back to her.

"What the hell did you do last night!?"

" _Mmm...Doesn't matter. The Lakebed Temple is located in the middle of Lake Hylia so you will both have to swim there if you want to enter it,"_ she told us, completely ignoring our question. Rolling our eyes, we jumped into the cool water of Lake Hylia and swam to the center of it. Going underwater, we had to swim deeper and deeper until we saw a large structure. I looked at Link and he nodded, tiny bubbles emitting from his mouth. We swam closer to the structure and found a Zora guarding the entrance to it. He didn't say anything to us when we swam up to him. He just pointed to a rock that was blocking the entrance. It's a good thing we bought those water bombs! I swam back while Link placed one right near the rock. He then swam back to me and we both watched the bomb obliterate the large boulder. We could now enter what I assumed to be the Lakebed Temple. I looked at Link and he was giving me the same look.

'You ready to go in?'

I nodded and we both swam into the next dungeon of our journey…

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 **And that is the end of the chapter! Yeah, I got a little lazy at the end but I don't care. It's freaking one in the morning, I had school, and a six hour shift at work so I'm fucking tired and I think I have shin splints haha. Playing soccer doesn't help me at all. It just makes my body hurt. Someone make me feel better! Just kidding, I don't know you. By the way, the next chapter is going to be a longer one since it's a dungeon chapter so it might take me a little longer to type it. But anyway, please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think about it so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time!**


	16. Chapter 16: The Lakebed Temple

**Hey guys! It is time for the water temple chapter! God, this is going to suck for me since I have no idea how I'm going to do this but I'll figure something out! I plan on getting the next Legend of Zelda game in a few days and I hope it's really good! I hope you guys get it too! But back to this I might take a long time but I'm sure it will turn out okay in the end. I have to work every day for the next two weeks somy life really fucking sucks. I did get a full ride to JSU for my basics though which is freaking awesome! Okay! I'm gonna stop! Please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think about it so far! Reviewing literally takes about ten seconds so just do it guys! It helps spreads the story so I need your help! You did awesome with the last chapter so keep it up! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 16: The Lakebed Temple

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Water rushed past my face as Link and I swam through a wide tunnel underwater. Plant life relished on both sides of the clear water and moved ever so slightly at our subtle movements. I was just now realizing how efficient our zora tunics really were. Even though we were underwater, I felt as if I could breathe forever. My lungs felt so relaxed and my heart paced at a soothing pace. My limbs moved through the water like a fish as I brought each arm forward and back through the tunnel. I smiled at the freeing feeling and embraced the tunnel we had just entered. The water cave felt as if it was a mile long as we swam. There were no enemies that I could see so far besides some tiny fish and, of course, a variety of plant life. It was so beautiful to me that I zoned out for a moment. My attention recovered when I felt Link tap me on the shoulder. I looked at him and he pointed out in front of us. Looking up, there were giant clams just waiting to snap their mouths on us along with dangerous-looking jelly fish. Aren't all jellyfish dangerous anyway? Whatever, that's not the point. The point is that we need to find some way to get through both of these aqua monsters. The clams sat on the rock bed below so they wouldn't be a problem but the jellyfish floated wherever they pleased. We were within range that they could see us, but they did not engage us in any fashion. Could they be friendly creatures?

'Let's swim forward slowly with caution' Link told me with an obvious glance. I nodded and he took the lead. I stayed close behind him and he stopped when the jellyfish jumped in the water. Link and I felt a sudden jolt of electricity as if we had rubbed our feet on the carpet and then touched someone with tip of our fingers. It didn't hurt or anything, just surprised us. Before us was the same jelly fish; however, it was now covered in a coat of electricity that appeared bright and threatening. Water around the fish moved outward in ring-like waves which gave us an indication of the monster's range of attack. Swimming quickly, Link and I rushed past it so we wouldn't get hurt and reached the other side of the dungeon. Here, the tunnel took a direct turn upward. From here you could see the water end where the dungeon began. Even though I felt great swimming through this water I was glad to get away from those jelly fish! Reaching the surface, I let air fill my lungs and frowned.

"Something wrong?" Link asked me when he saw the expression on my face. I shook my head.

"No. I just prefer breathing underwater than above it…" I muttered stubbornly. He laughed at that and swam to the edge of the surface pool.

"Yeah well. I don't know what to tell you about that one haha," he then said, holding his hand out for me to grab onto. Ditching my frown, I smiled and took his hand gladly. His fingers were slippery from the water but he made sure that he had a firm grip on mine as he pulled me out of the water. Water dripped from my tunic and I shook it off like a dog would its fur. I reached to wring out my hair but found that it was completely dry! What the hell!? I blinked in shock and made a double take.

"Whoa, my hair is completely dry! How is that even possible?"

"It must have something to do with your tunic or that Zora pendant in your hair. The queen probably helped make the female counterpart to mine so she most likely did any girl that would eventually wear it a favor. You girls and your hair," he teased, rolling his eyes at me. I gasped and placed my hands on my hips.

"Excuse me!? You're the one with the perfect hair around here! You were so worried about it when I was cutting it earlier!"

"Mhmm, don't know what you're talking about," he said quickly before turning and looking around. My mouth fell open at seeing him dodge the subject, but I found myself also looking at my surroundings. This Lakebed Temple was so...vast. You would think that since it was underwater that you would feel concealed and restricted but this room was wide and round. I would say it was a 5,000 square foot room by the looks of it. The walls were damp and the ceiling was covered in stalactites; long ones at that. The place must be thousands of years old. Ahead of us lied a giant gate with two red dots on both sides of it. In front of the gate hung a lever which, I'm guessing, unlocked the gate somehow. Two staircases ran up the sides of the wall so you could get to said gate.

"Hey…" Link whispered to me.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Look, It's one of those slimy things."

I looked and it looked like he was right. Red slimy monsters slugged their way through the cave floor with no care at all. "Let's kill them," Link suggested. I giggled and shook my head. "That's not nice you know. They could be our friends for all you know," I said to him, already in the process of taking my sword out of its sheath. He gave me a look and did the same. "I can honestly say that there's a 95% chance that that's bullshit."

I shrugged and walked over to the red chu. It gave me a look and kind of made this disturbing gesture that it wanted to rape me or something. Yep, it must die. I slashed my sword at it and its chu jelly shot in all directions. It took one hit to kill that thing and it thought it could molest me? Pshh! Please…

"Now that that's done let's get to the next room. That lever up there probably unlocks the gate," Link told me, making his way up the right staircase in the room. He turned around to face the lever that hung over the balcony and jumped with a slight grunt escaping his lips. His hands gripped the lever, and sure enough, the gate behind him opened, revealing the door to the next room. I gave him a thumbs up and he smiled as we entered the second room of the dungeon. I have no idea how long this dungeon is but I like to keep a checklist of all the rooms we've been in so that room is done! Now this room was-...holy mother of Hylia! It was even bigger than the last room. And it had even more monsters inside it! Ugh, what a drag. But no sense in complaining about it. The room was like a small waterfall in that the ground was completely covered in water and that it was layered in elevation. Even larger stalactites eroded from the ceiling just above the running water below.

" _Crap! Those things look super dangerous. I think it would be best if you knocked those down before moving on,"_ Midna said through Link's shadow. Link smiled to me and pumped his fist.

"Great idea Midna!" He said with a grin. I couldn't see her but I knew Midna was so happy that Link had praised her again. Link took out his bow and a bomb, attaching them to each other. He then aimed it at each stalactite on the roof of the cave. They exploded easily and fell to the ground with a slam, killing one or two monsters in the process. Nice!

"Nice shot Link! You're getting better at bow and arrow," I told him happily. He grinned at me and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, but I'll never be as good as you Scarlett. You're like the master at archery."

I looked down and felt heat rise to my cheeks. I love it when he compliments me hehe.

"Yeah well...I'm still improving," I murmured, "what do you think is the puzzle inside this room?" I asked, looking out in front of me again. Link thought for a second before humming with his mouth closed. "I don't think there is one. Those things I just shot down were the problem I think. Don't waste your time with any monsters this time, let's just keep going to the next room."

"Okay, fine with me," I said with approval. He and I slowly, but carefully, climbed down the ledge that we had been on and walked through the room with ease. The stalactites acted as a ledge that we could grab to get even higher so Link was right again. Damn, for a boy who never went to an actual school he was pretty smart. It didn't take long before we made it to the next door without any encounter falling upon us. Link opened the door for me and I giggled.

"Oh, what a gentleman!"

He snorted and followed me, letting the door close behind us with a gentle shut.

"Wow, this is different. So pretty," I commented. We were now on a bridge with a portion of Lake Hylia running beneath us in all it's blue-colored glory. I leaned over the edge and stared in awe at the water. So far, this temple was the prettiest in my opinion. And the smell was so refreshing. No pollution could have possibly breached inside here so it was clean and fresh.

"Yeah but we're not alone," Link said. Of course we weren't. We never are! A few feet away from us stood a tall reptilian soldier. His back was slumped slightly and he looked at us with villainous intent. I think we saw one of these in the Goron Mines. Link and I readied our weapons and the lizard man lunged at us with a terrifying screech. Since we've faced him before, it was no problem for either of us to slay the monstrous beast. Ugh, and it's blood was like this bluish color and that just freaked me out for some reason. Don't know why.

"Eww so gross...Why is his blood blue?"

"He was just created that way Scarlett," Link laughed. I stomped my foot in agitation and waved my arms around. "Well it's not fucking normal! Blood should be red!"

"Does it really matter?" He asked after my little outburst.

"No but-"

"Then don't worry about it," he laughed again, patting the side of my arm and walking to the door on the other side of the room. I sighed and flicked at my hair, following him. Unlike the past two doors, this next one was crafted like one that you would see in someone's home. It had beautifully crafted designs of shells and ancient animals that lived here before, I assume. This door wasn't heavy so I could open it instead of having Link use his brute strength for me. I did like seeing him flex his muscles whenever he did open the past doors though...

Uh! I didn't just think that! No way in Hyrule I did! Just forget that past thought! On to the fourth room my green eyes went wide as well as Link's blue ones. This was by far the largest of all the rooms we've been in so far. The whole thing looked like a ginormous puzzle that was just waiting to be solved. I looked to Link and he was already trying to figure it out based on the look on his face. It was kind of funny.

"Link, don't hurt yourself."

"I won't! I'm just trying to get a general sense of the room. And...I can already tell it's gonna be a complete bitch," he replied with a big smile. I chuckled with my hand over my mouth and nodded. "Yep! That sounds about right!"

This room contained a huge staircase with multiple floors within it. The staircase was unusual in that it didn't go to every single floor in the room which is why I say it looks like just another puzzle Link and I will have to solve. I swear, what if the chosen hero and heroine turned out to be a couple of dumbasses? Did the gods ever factor that possibility in!? Because these dungeons get even more challenging the deeper you go inside them! I guess they just got lucky this time…

"Hmm...each floor has one or two walls blocking a portion of it so let's go down this stairway first; see where it'll get us," Link told me. I complied and walked down the stairs with him. I freaking hate stairs by the way. Just saying. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, we turned left since there was a wall blocking the right side of this floor. There was a door we could enter, but unfortunately it had a set of chains on it which obviously meant that it was locked. I looked around and made a sound of enthusiasm.

"Ah-ha! Let's hang on this," I said, walking over to an opening where the staircase did not go. But, there was a lever that was present in front of it so let's see what this does shall we? I jumped over the ledge and took hold of the lever. My weight caused it to drop and the titanic staircase shifted over to me. Yep, I knew it. Link ran over to me and pumped his fist again.

"Hell yeah! What would I do without you Scarlett?" He asked genuinely. I smirked and waved my hand at him.

"I'm not sure, but I do know that you would be super lonely!"

"Yeah that would totally suck," he said back to me. His shadow suddenly moved around under him and Midna came out with an annoyed look on her face.

" _Hey! You would still have me!"_ She yelled. Link rolled his eyes at her and she went back into his shadow with a huff. He smiled at me and then nodded at the stairs. "Anyway, lead the way my beloved partner."

Beloved partner? Oh my gosh that was kind of cute...but I can't focus on that right now. At the moment, I better worry about getting up these damn stairs. Ugh there must have been like fifty of them or something. Oh Hylia have mercy on me. Link got to the top of the stairs way before I did and once I did I was completely out of breath. I rested my hands on my knees and took a few deep breaths before Link handed me a canteen of water he had saved for the trip.

"Thanks," I said through repeated gasps. "I don't _do_ stairs," I explained to him. He chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest."I can see that."

Giving him a glare, I handed him the bottle of water after drinking it and turned right where the nearest door was. Hooray for the next room! Oh wait...shit. My hopes were completely destroyed when I saw that this door was also locked.

"Please tell me there's a key somewhere around here," I said, glancing around for anything that might contain one. To the right of me there was a large jar that just sat there randomly. Now I know that keys aren't usually found in jars but it was my first guess. Link and I walked over to the jar and Link broke it with a swift kick of his foot.

Guess what fucking popped out.

That stupid ugly bird thing. Ooccoo I think her name was.

"Hey! It's nice to see you again! Thank you so much for-"

"Nope! Nope! Nope! Nope!"

I cut her off as I picked her up and threw her over the ledge. She screamed until we couldn't hear her anymore. Link stared at me for a long time before I decided to say something. "What?" I asked.

"You just threw her over the cliff. What do you mean 'what'?" He questioned.

"What can I say? She disgusts me," I said to him. He stared at me again before he suddenly yelped, crashing to the ground. I gasped and found that a blue spider-like monster had knocked him down. Oh gods, a spider. I HATE spiders.

"Holy crap! Link are you okay!?" I called out to him as I backed away from the blue spider. The worst thing about this spider was that it hopped. That freaked me out even more! Link grunted with a light scratch on his cheek and stood up slowly. Seeing that he was alright, I turned my attention back to the spider who was jumping at me. My hand began to shake as my fear of arachnids took over my whole body. The spider, being close enough, jumped to attack me and Instead of using my sword I screamed and lifted up my shield to block the vile creature. Link cursed under his breath and managed to slice the monster open before it made contact with my shield. I lowered it slowly after seeing what happened and Link looked at me.

"You really need to work on that fear of spiders…" he said through heavy breaths. I sighed and gave him a hug which apparently surprised him because his body tensed up.

"I'm sorry. I can't help it. I just kind of...freeze whenever I see one…" I told him. He hugged me back and I brought my head back to look at him. I lifted my hand and wiped away the small scratch he had sustained from his fall.

"I-It's okay," he stampered. "I mean...it's only natural to be scared of something so nasty looking."

Okay, did he just change his mind or something? His face was a rosy color and he didn't make direct eye contact with me. Oh well. I nodded and rubbed his cheek again.

"Yeah...but enough about me. Are you okay? Did he hurt your back when he jumped in like that?" I asked the blonde boy in front of me. He shook his head and stretched a little. "Nah, I should be fine. I expect to endure things much worse than this as we get deeper into the temple. But, as long as I'm alive and breathing I should be okay!" He said with his chest out. I smiled and let my hand drop down to my side.

"Right. You're too stubborn to die. I forgot," I joked. He smiled and put his arms behind his back. He opened his mouth to say something but then stopped when his eyes apparently saw something that interested them.

"No way, is that a chest down there?" He asked me. I blinked in confusion and turned around to see a blue chest on the floor below us. He was right. There really was a chest there on the other side of the room. Since there were no keys on this floor that had to be where our first key was!

"Good eye! A key is probably inside it! Come on, there's a lever over here!" I said excitedly as I ran over to the lever and caused the staircase to move again. Link ran after me as I ran down the stairs and over to the large blue chest. I love opening these things because it reminds me of opening a gift for my birthday! My favorite day I might add. I brought my gloved hand to the chest and flipped the latch to open it. Expecting a key, I grinned going in, but became confused when I only saw a piece of paper lying inside the container.

"What's that?" Link asked, peeking his head over my shoulder.

"I'm not sure," I replied. I reached inside the chest and unfolded the paper to see a layout of the whole dungeon. On the map, there were key symbols spread all throughout it. My face beamed with delight.

"Well it's not a key but it's a map of the dungeon as well as where all the keys are! This is awesome!"

"Hell yeah it is! We needed that!" He said with the same amount of energy as me. My eyes laid themselves on the map and I tried to figure out where we were. On this floor, the closest door to us looked to be locked so it might be wise to go through that one first. I mean, it's the only option right now. Following the map, we walked to the door and opened it to find ourselves on another bridge, this time lower than the last one. Up ahead was a monster who was startled by our presence. Why in all of Faron Woods does there have to be a damn monster in every single room!? Someone please tell me before I go insane! This monster was tiny though. He was kind of cute actually. He looked like a turtle, just with an armored metal shell on its back. He charged at us after regaining his focus and all Link and I had to do was simply hop over it. Like literally, what was it really going to do?

"Well that was anticlimactic," I said as we went into the room on the other side of the bridge. My eyes brightened with the site of a large carousel with multiple platforms hanging from it by strong wires. Below the platform was rising geysers that shot pressurized water up every few seconds. To the left of us was a small cave pathway that led to the platform in the center of the room. There were two chests in the room, one of them containing a key inside.

"Let's try that one over there," Link said, pointing. He then ran to the platform and managed to reach the chest by jumping long and hard enough. He almost lost his footing but he was able to stay on solid ground. I breathed a sigh of relief and cupped my hands over my mouth as I saw him opening the chest.

"Well?"

He turned to me and smiled, spinning the small key in his hands. I gasped in delight and looked at the other chest in the room.

"I'll go see what's inside that one," I told Link, who was making his way back over to me. As soon as I started to jump he stopped me and shook his head. "No, I don't think we need anything from there. We also really can't do anything else in this room other than play in that water below if you want."

I raised my blonde eyebrows and gave him a look.

"Kidding!" He quickly said with a laugh. "...though I wouldn't mind seeing you in a swimsuit…"

"What was that!?" I asked. He shook his head and laughed again like it was nothing. Damn you Link, what did you just say under your breath? I'll ask him later if I remember. Letting him lead the way, we backtracked all the way back to the main room in the temple and ran up the stairs. This floor had the locked door that we couldn't previously get in. I expected Link to unlock the door and run in but he stopped in front of it. I tilted my head in confusion.

"What? Please don't tell me it's not the right key or something…" I complained with a whine in my tone of voice. He smiled and shook his head once again.

"Nah," he said, handing me the key, "I just remembered that you like to unlock the doors with the keys so here you go."

He placed the key in my hand and I stared at it. I can't believe he actually remembered that. Hell, even I didn't even think about it until he said something. It wasn't intended, but I was smiling already.

"You're so sweet Link," I said as I unlocked the door. He blushed and placed his hand behind his neck shyly. He didn't say anything but I knew all he would say was a simple 'thanks'. Yeah, Link still has trouble talking with other people. I don't blame him though. Having a conversation with someone and thinking of things to say can be really hard. But isn't it cute how the 'ranch boy' is learning? And he's learning from me! The city girl! So cliche haha, but anyway, the chains fell to the ground and the door opened on it's own. Another bridge, yet again, appeared before us. Surprisingly, there weren't any enemies on this one.

Thank Hylia…

The area beyond it was a bit more complex. It was like a pathway had been carved into the ground but I didn't see any carts anywhere to where it could roll through here. To the right was a gate and to the left the same thing. Well shit.

"Hold on," Link said. He shot down another stalactite from the ceiling and climbed on top of it. He then grabbed a hold of the wall and began climbing it. I narrowed my eyes and walked closer to see that the wall was covered in vines. That made more sense. But, that still didn't explain why he was climbing up it in the first place. I asked him why and he told me to hang on in reply. Once he reached the top, he jumped on the other side of the gate and it opened in front of me.

"There's a lever up here," he told me from up top. I nodded and walked to the other side of the gate. "I see it now. You gonna be okay with jumping down from that height?" I asked, my head tilted up to look at him. He was still hanging on the lever he had just jumped to and was now peering down at me.

"If I don't and my legs get broken would you carry me to the final monster?"

"Hell no."

He sighed.

"Didn't think so," he said to himself as he let go of the lever and hit the ground. His face twisted into minor pain when he hit the ground before he started to rub the bottom of his "flipper" boots.

"Son of a whore that hurt!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he grinned, "it's gonna have to be higher than that to injure me." I couldn't help but bring a smile to my face. I'm glad he's alright but he needs to stop making me think that he's injured all the time! Link is like that kid on the playground that always gets himself hurt in some shape or form but always laughs about it because in the end he had a fun time. It's just so tiring trying to see if he's okay or not. But it's not like I can help it. He's my best friend after all!

"Granted, I probably should've caught you or something to lessen the fall," I remarked after thinking about it. He chuckled and shook his head, walking past me. "Pleassseeeee, it would only hurt you because of my weight."

I rose an eyebrow. "You don't think I could lift you up?" I asked in almost an intimidating way. He smirked and turned to me.

"I know you can't. Not completely anyway."

"Alright let's test your theory out!" I blurted out, forgetting that we were kind of supposed to be going through this dungeon to get to whatever Midna needed. She'll probably get mad at me in a second but I don't care! I'm gonna lift Link up if it's the last thing I do! And not for my pride or anything, but to prove this chosen hero wrong! And if I make a fool of myself then I think we can all just sum it up that I'm a dumbass.

Link's ocean blue eyes widened for a second in surprise before going back to their normal state.

"What?"

"Let's test it out. Let me lift you up!" I said with a tightened fist and confident smile. He laughed again and shrugged.

"Alright, but if you can't just know that I told you so," he said, taking off his shield and sword and laying them on the ground beside us. He then opened his arms out and waited for me to lift him up. I guess he wanted me to wrap my arms around his waist and do it that way. Why can't I just lift him from underneath...Oh shit, forgot he's a guy...never mind about that idea...Alright! Let's get this over with! I cracked my knuckles and wrapped my arms around his waist. He stared up at the ceiling with a blush on his face as my arms connected on top of his muscular back. I felt his abs against my body as I grunted and tried to lift him up. SWEET MOTHER OF HYLIA, he was way heavier than he looked! What the hell!? After a few seconds I stopped trying and panted for air before trying again. This time I managed to bring him off the ground a little but that was it.

"Wow! You're really strong! You got me off the ground!" Link said, impressed.

"Huh?" I asked in confusion. I honestly thought he would tease me about it.

"I didn't think you would be able to but you did. Good job Scarlett!" He said as he gave me a thumbs up. I continued to be confused but went along with it anyway.

"Yeah well...I told you I could. Now you try. I bet you can't lift me up."

He snorted and walked over to me. I opened my arms out just like he had and he placed his hands under them. He quickly lifted me up and I, on instinct, let my legs wrap around his waist. He grinned, "see, I had no prob..." He stopped when he realized what kind of position the two of us were in, "...lem..." he muttered with a reddened face. I blushed as well, staring into his eyes before he let me down.

"We should probably stop fooling around before Midna yells at us..." he said as soon as my feet hit the ground.

"You're right," I replied, taking out the map we had just found and looking over it. I'm so embarrassed right now...but I bet we'll just forget about it. Ugh, why did I have to prove to him that I could lift him in the first place?

"So where do we go next?" He asked with a smile. My embarrassment started to fade seeing that he was smiling again.

"There should be a door behind these rocks right here that will lead us to the next room that we have to go in. We'll just need to find a way to get through them. I say we blow them up."

"I agree," he said. Midna's hand appeared in Link's shadow and tossed him one of the bombs we had bought back in Kakariko Village. Well that's one way to get one out of your bag...Link gripped the small black ball of dynamite and threw it at the wall of rocks that was in front of us. There was nowhere else in the corridor that we were in so this was the obvious thing to do. Connecting with the rocks, the bomb blew them up into pieces and a new area was revealed to us. Inside lurked some kind of monster who shielded himself inside a bubble of water. It hissed at us and I honestly did not feel like dealing with it right at this moment. So, I just walked past it and opened the door that the map led us to. Link followed me slowly.

"Uhhh...okay haha," he laughed.

"I'm just not feeling it right now," I told him. He was fine with that. In the room we had entered, there was a large wheel that was unmoving at the moment which made me wonder if this part of the temple was a type of river that generated electricity somehow. Electricity for what though? The wheel blocked our path to the other side of the room so this was a dead-end besides the chest that sat beside it. Let's hope there's a key in there. Link and I walked to it, opened it, and what do you know there was a key inside! Thank Hylia for that!

"Alright let's backtrack to the last room," I said to Link as I stared at the map. He stopped behind me and I glanced at him.

"Don't you want to go through this room?" He asked, pointing to his left side. My eyes widened at the door and I shot my eyes to the map. Son of a bitch, I totally missed that! I hanged my head in shame and handed him the map. He smiled and folded it in his hands.

"Thannnnnnkkkkk youuuuu," he dragged out just to tease me.

"Don't make me take it back from you!"

He apologized while laughing as we headed through the door he had seen. All while I was still wondering how I had missed it on the fucking map! I'm such a ditz. In here was a giant, and I mean giant, gear shaped thing hanging from the ceiling that was lowered down all the way to our feet. There was no telling what that was for. This whole temple was like a huge enigma of some kind. I'm already starting to get a headache by it...Luckily though, there were no monsters in here so we just walked on the gear platform and went to the door on the other side of it. AND, it led us back to the hallway where we destroyed those rocks...Wait...What the hell! I missed this door too!?

"Wow you really need to work on your navigation skills," Link said. I brought my hand up as we walked towards that creature in the water bubble from before.

"Shut...the hell up...you whore…"

Ugh...whore? That's the best I could come up with? Weak…

"Get out of our way dumbass," Link said to the upcoming creature. The water shield was supposed to act as a shield but it was just an epic fail on the monster's part. Link killed that thing in a heartbeat and unlocked the door behind it without breaking a sweat. I was expecting another hallway since every single room in this fucking temple has been like that but this was totally new. And big. It was an enormous spiral pathway that went up maybe five floors if you were looking at a house. There was one of those levers at the very top of it and one at the very bottom. I ran to the lower one and laid my hand on it.

"I call this one!" I yelled. Link's mouth fell open and then he mumbled something under his breath as he made his way to the very top of the spiral path. Should I feel bad? No, because I called this lever. It's mine damn it!

 _Padshhhhh!_

What in the world? I looked up and gasped as water fell over me. I didn't get that wet but that caught me by total surprise! Getting a better look, I saw that a waterfall-like stream had fallen from the top of the room now filled the entire floor where I was. Oh crap, it was really filling it up.

 _Splash!_

I turned as Link dived into the water next to me. Rising up to the surface, he got out of the water and pointed at the lever right beside me.

"Quick! Pull that lever!" He said. I shrugged and did as I was told. This caused the water to flow out of the room and into the one we had come from. So I was right! This area turned out to be a river after all! You know, who the hell builds these temples anyways? I'm gonna ask shade when we get our next 'legendary skill' lesson. There was also a large metal sound that sounded throughout the whole temple. It must be that geared platform we passed.

"Come on, I have a feeling that we need to go back to that room," Link commented. I nodded and we walked back. Link's instincts, as usual, were correct. The platform, being connected to the running water, caused the platform to rotate. We looked below it and there were three smaller ones that hung from this one. And below those...was a room that looked extremely familiar. I wouldn't be surprised if we've already been here before. Just higher.

"Come on," Link said, grabbing my hand and jumping down the platform. I screamed and covered my eyes but it turns out we had landed in front of a door that was near the edge of the "cliff". I regained the breath I had lost and punched the boy's arm.

"Don't scare me like that! I thought we were gonna die!"

"Haha no, you won't die as long as I'm around so you don't have to worry about that," he replied, opening the door. I blushed and broke eye contact with him. "Yeah well...I know that already! Isn't there another key in here or something?" I asked. He seemed surprised that I knew that.

"Actually yes. Look," he said, pointing at a chest a few feet away from us. He quickly opened it and it was another key! I grinned and tilted my head up in pride as Link rolled his eyes. He then grabbed my arm and took me to the previous room.

"We have to jump on these platforms to get over there," he told me, meaning the door to the west of us. Of course I have no idea which way is north so I'm just gonna assume that north is straight so it was to the west of us! Don't question it! So anyway Link and I jumped to the platform, blah blah blah, and found our next locked door. Behind it was a room with actual water in it. Now this is what I'm talking about! It can't be a water temple without hardly any water now can it?

"You ready?" Link asked as he stepped into the water. I nodded enthusiastically and practically dove in with him. The water rushed to my eyes but I didn't care. It was so blue and clear that I had no problem seeing, or breathing for that matter because of this tunic I was wearing. I just loved swimming! Plus, it was great exercise. Swimming through the room underwater, I could see that there were those jellyfish from before floating around. Their electricity circuited outward in all directions which scared me some. Fortunately, it was easy enough to just swim around them. As long as you didn't provoke them they wouldn't attack you. This underwater tunnel took about a minute to progress through before you got to the surface. When we did, Link and I opened our mouths to breathe in the air. I almost coughed at the sudden smell of the room we had just popped up in. It smelled so...fishy I would say. Yeah yeah we're in a temple filled with fish but this scent was different. It was really strong and made my nose itch. I actually sneezed and Link looked at me.

"Bless you."

"T-Thanks," I whispered, rubbing my nose. "...the smell in this room stinks to high hylia! What the heck is that?"

"I don't-" He stopped at the sound of something hitting the floor in front of us. We looked and saw that it was a simple slug. A simple slug that had demonic teeth! Holy shit! Link took his sword out faster than I ever could and killed it instantly. He then looked up and cursed under his breath.

"What?"

"There's a giant f-ing frog on the ceiling…" he muttered quietly. I narrowed my eyes at him and looked up to see exactly what Link had just described. It was like the creature had been staring at me because as soon as I saw it it jumped down to the ground. The monster's weight caused Link and I to fall on our asses but we were both on our feet faster than a speeding arrow. Looking at this thing up and down, It took up a quarter of the room. It had big fat lips and an enormous chin that looked swollen. Then again, it was a frog so that made since. I think it's a frog anyways. Now that it was in front of us the smell was almost nauseating. I gagged and took a step back as the beast howled at us.

"This is going to be a bitch," Link said next to me. I looked at him and sighed. I totally agree, this is going to either be really easy or stupidly difficult. The titanic frog monster screeched at us one more time before turning his big fat ass towards us. Remember those slugs that fell from the ceiling before? Yeah...well it turns out they came from this thing's back! It was their mother! The frog shook the egged slugs off its body and they slid to the ground with a squishy sound emitting from them. The slugs then hatched from their shells and came crawling towards us with those sharp teeth of theirs. Link looked to me and then back at them.

"Scarlett! I'll take care of these. You get the mom!" He said, already killing a few of the slugs that tried to bite him.

"Okay! Be careful!" I said back to him. I targeted the mom and it stared at me, licking its lips. I internally cringed and attempted to swipe at it but to no avail. The monster jumped to the right and then to the left. It was way faster than it looked!

"Ugh! Get over here!" I screamed in frustration. It tilted its head at me and then leaped high into the air. My eyes went wide at the huge jump this fat thing had just made and felt myself mutter under my breath.

"Holy crap…"

"Scarlett! Watch out!" I heard Link yell at me. I shook myself from my daze and just managed to roll out of the way before the frog hit the ground again. When it slammed on the ground, I guess the monster bit its tongue because it hanged out of its mouth. If I've learned anything it's that a monster's greatest weakness is their eye or tongue. I ran to the tongue as fast as I could and brought my sword to the tongue hard. Left and right, I slashed the mouth organ while the owner thrashed around. Link even joined in after killing all of those nasty slugs. After he joined there was no way the frog could withstand it. It screeched a monstrous howl and...oh my goodness...puked out a fucking chest. A chest! Not even kidding! Our enemy died and disintegrated before we even realized what had happened. Water appeared at the site of the frog's death and flowed throughout the room, only going so high as to barely reaching our ankles. The horrible smell went away and the room now smelled like the fresh clean water found all over the Lakebed Temple. Much better if I do say so myself.

"Weirdest...fight...ever…" Link said slowly. I nodded.

"That's for sure. Also, there's no way I'm touching that chest. You open it," I said while giggling. He hesitated but opened the chest nonetheless. His sky blue eyes lit up and he grinned, showing his perfect white teeth.

"Aw hell yeah. Look at this thing Scarlett," he said to me. He took what was in the chest and showed them to me. Oh how cool! It was a claw that acted as a glove. You could shoot this thing from your hand and it extended the claw by a chain. You could probably latch onto things with this and might even be able to fight with it. To me, it was just a handy thing to have. There were two of them in the chest so I got one while Link got the other.

"Now that that's done…" Link yawned with his arms stretched over his head, "I think it's time we take a rest. I don't know about you but I'm beat. There's no way to tell time in here but I bet it's nighttime," he said. Midna emerged from his shadow and smiled.

" _You would be right. It's right around seven in the afternoon. You guys have been in here for a long time!"_

Whoa, we have haven't we? That's like seven hours! Well, now that Link says that, I'm kind of tired as well. My eyes are starting to burn like I am. I glanced around the room. This would be a good room to take a rest if any. We've already defeated the monster in here so we can sleep without being paranoid.

"You want to just sleep against the wall or something?" Link suggested. I shrugged and walked over to the wall, my feet splashing with the shallow water beneath me. Link followed and we both sat against the wall. I didn't care that I was laying in water but it did make me cold. I began to shiver but stopped when Link laid his hand on my back. I blushed and looked at him in surprise.

"I know it's cold but if we stay huddled together we can keep warm," he instructed. I opened my mouth to say something but my throat felt dry. I looked down, cupped some fresh water that we hadn't touched and drank it. It was so good! But, I still found that I couldn't say anything. Nothing remotely intelligent. Choosing not to make a fool of myself, I just nodded to him and laid my hand on his chest. He was almost stone cold which made me wonder if he ever hid things about himself from me so I wouldn't be worried. I sighed and pressed my chest to his. Maybe he would become warm this way. He froze for a second when I did this but returned his hand to my back. Midna sat herself on the ground and watched us with a watchful eye.

" _Ohhh~...Sexy~"_ She whispered loud enough for link and I to hear. I gasped and glared at her. I then looked at Link but his eyes were closed.

" _Guy already fell asleep. He must've been really tired,"_ Midna observed.

"I don't blame him. It's been a long day. And stop being a pervert! We're just cuddling because it's cold in here and we have to stay warm!" I told her with pink cheeks. She rolled her eyes and silently crept back into Link's shadow.

" _Mhmmm, whatever you say sweetheart~"_

And then she was gone, lost in the darkness of Link's silhouette. I stared at it for a minute before looking back at the blonde boy next to me. His face was so smooth and his lips looked so soft...I shook my head and pinched myself. Nope, I was really thinking this. I wasn't dreaming about it…

"I'm sure it's nothing…" I told myself, laying my head on Link's chest and closing my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his body as if he was a pillow and quickly fell asleep. I'm not sure if she intended it, but Hylia created Link as an awesome pillow for me. I don't know for certain, but I could've sworn that Link's arms did the same with me before the consciousness left my body…

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

For some reason I could feel that Scarlett was staring at me while she thought I was asleep. Did she think I was weird for putting my arm around her? I honestly just want to keep her warm. But if I open my eyes and she really is staring at me then it will get super awkward...

" _Ohhh~...Sexy~"_

Wow. Why am I not surprised that Midna just said that? I could feel Scarlett shift her body next to me but she didn't move away any. She was probably giving a heroic glare at Midna for being a pervert.

"...stop being a pervert!"

Yep, called it. They're both so predictable but I love them both like family. Scarlett as the nice family member who you wanted to spend all day with and Midna the bitchy aunt. I could hear Midna giving off her signature laughing before it faded away like a whisper. She must've went back into my shadow.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Scarlett said. I don't know what she's talking about but she starting to cuddle with me. Her arms wrapped around my body and laid her head on my chest. Oh man, there's no telling how red my face is right now! My heart is beating so fast...I waited until I thought she had gone to sleep before wrapping my own arms around her body as well. Her form was so fit and comforting. I don't know why she's always worried about her appearance. She's perfect...but anyway, I better get some sleep for the even longer day tomorrow. Hopefully, we can make it out of this temple by then.

* * *

I woke up having to pee more badly than that one time when I drank all that goat milk back at the ranch. I mean, I'm surprised I didn't like pee my pants. Then again, we are in a water temple and I could just pee in the water but that's really nasty...Guess I better get up and wake up Scarlett as well. I opened my eyes and she was still clinging to me. I carefully lifted her arms off of me and wiggled out of her grasp without waking her up. Damn Lakebed Temple. I wanted to cuddle some more but we have to get moving. I laid my hand on her arm and gently nudged her until she stirred.

"Mmm...Huh?" She groaned, opening her eyes. By the look she gave me I could tell she was still practically asleep. I gave her a smile and patted her arm.

"Scarlett, it's time to get up okay? We have to get through the temple before the day ends," I told her in a quiet soothing tone. I hate it when people scream at me to wake up so I make sure whoever I'm waking up actually wants to get up. Again, she just stared at me and then complained about it. It wasn't whining but the typical complaint we all have when we have to get up early. I held my hand out and helped her up.

"T-Thank you...Oh shit!" She wobbled as she got to her feet and would've fallen back if I hadn't caught her by the waist. Her face became flushed but then she gasped. I took a step forward because I was concerned but she did that for something completely stupid.

"My hair! Is it messed up!?" She asked loudly. I gave her a look and she stared at her reflection in the water below us. She then breathed a sigh of relief and flicked her hair behind her back. "Phew, it still looks good! Why are you looking at me like that? What!?"

"Let's just go," I said with the roll of the eyes. I turned and looked at the way we came in. The small pool was sealed off which meant that we were trapped in here. However, the clawshot we got would most likely get us out of here. I scanned around and saw a red-dotted target. I took out the clawshot from my bag and shot it across the room at the target. When the two connected a door appeared in the wall. These temples never cease to amaze me. Scarlett and I took the door to get out of the room and looked at the map again.

"Yeah, I'm going to give you the map because I have to piss."

"Okay," she laughed while I ran around the corner of the room and went to the bathroom. I peed for like a minute straight. Lakebed Temple? More like Pissbed Temple now...that didn't sound as cool as I thought it would...Better get that map away from Scarlett before she leads us to a dead-end. I walked back and found the girl rotating the map in her hands with a confused countenance. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and walked back over to her. "What are you doing?"

"I was just-...Just take it," she said as she surrendered the map to me. I smiled and looked at the map. I looked around to see where we were and nodded in understanding. If I was correct, which I usually am, we needed to go to one of the larger rooms in the temple. I started walking that way and Scarlett followed me while playing with her hair. I don't know why girls do that but it's really cute. When we got to the room we were supposed to be in my heart started to race for mine and Scarlett's safety. The room had those rotating platforms like the room from before but this time the surface below them was never ending. It looked like a bottomless pit that was filled with darkness.

"We need to be really careful in here," Scarlett thought out loud. I looked at her and she had a worried expression on her face. I smiled and shook my head.

"It'll be okay. Let's just tackle this room like we would any other," I replied. She noticeably swallowed and my smile faltered. So much for cheering her up. As a second attempt, I took ahold of her hand and squeezed it for good measure. She seemed astonished for a second before giving me a smile and nodding. Hell yeah! I'm fucking awesome.

"That's the spirit! Now what we're going to have to do is get on those platforms and then jump to that eastern door over there," I said, pointing at the door, "looking at the platforms there's more of those targets on there so I'm thinking we need to use our clawshots to get to them when the platforms swing close to us and then just jump to the door when it rotates over there. Sound like a plan?" I asked her. She thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, sounds good. But...Is it okay if we go over to the door together instead of separately? It would make me feel better if you were right next to me while we're over that abyss."

I smiled and took out my clawshot.

"Fine with me," I said. She grinned and wrapped her arms around me like I was giving her a piggy-back ride. She held her arms tightly around my chest and gave me the "go-ahead". I nodded and watched the three platforms rotate in front of me. Each of them was about the size of maybe a person's bedroom. When one of them came close enough to the two of us I shot my clawshot at one of the targets on the platform but missed.

"Shit, you're the one with badass aim," I joked. Scarlett smiled and tilted my arm up a degree or two.

"Try that."

I followed her advice and when the next platform made its way over to us we actually hit the mark this time. Scarlett and I gasped as the clawshot pulled us onto the platform quickly. There was a button on it to detach it from the target so I did that before setting my eyes upon our designated door. It was a simple jump to it but it was still nerving to know that if we messed up we would fall to our deaths. I know we have the triforce of courage or whatever but honestly that's total bullshit. Unless, you're talking about killing monsters because I could do that all day long. Wouldn't it be great if we got paid for all this? Like, I know that's really random but I could totally buy my own ranch instead of always having to-...

'Ugh, Link this is not the time to be focusing on your future fantasies! You need to focus!' I thought as I jumped to the door with Scarlett still on my back. Luckily, the jump was successful and we reached the door without any incident. Both of us felt sweat pour from our bodies. Not from it being hot in here, but because we stayed cautious the whole time. Granted, the goron mines felt much more dangerous than this place. The lava was a leading factor in that.

In this room we had just gotten into, it was just water so we obviously had to go underwater to get something. Using the iron boots I had gotten from the mayor back in Ordon Village Scarlett and I sank down to the ground underwater. We looked around and there really wasn't anything special. Sure, there was some seaweed but that was boring. There was a wall of rocks under here though so that definitely caught my eye. Scarlett took out one of the water bombs that we overpaid for back in Kakariko Village and rolled it to the wall. The bomb obliterated the rocks, revealing a passageway. We both swam through it until we made it back to the surface again. Hopefully we won't have to face another giant frog because this seemed familiar. On land, it was a simple room with a human-sized hole in the ground and a target straight above it. I looked down in the hole to see a huge chest sitting on a deserted platform over another deep, dark abyss. This puzzle was simple. All you had to do was latch onto the target and then lower yourself down to the chest without falling. And that's exactly what I did. Inside the chest was an equally huge key that looked like the one we had found in the Forest Temple and Goron Mines. Great, this meant we had to face another fucking boss. What the hell? Why are all these monsters inside these temples!? It's like they're just waiting for me and Scarlett to come so they can kill us. It's bullshit.

"Something wrong?" Scarlett asked with a frown. I shook my head and waved her over to me once I raised myself back up from the hole.

"No...Come on, this key goes to one of the doors where that giant staircase is."

"Alright. Is that the key?" She asked, nodding at the giant key in my hand.

"Yep."

She frowned even more.

"Does that mean we're going to have to face another humongous monster?"

"Yep."

"Fuck," she said.

"Indeed," I replied as we walked all the way back to the grand staircase of the temple. We got lost a few times due to the size of the place but eventually made it back. The door that the key unlocked turned out to be at the very bottom of the staircase so we just simply dived into the water that the staircase was in. The door was right there so we pulled ourselves up to it and inserted the key in the lock. The lock fell with a metallic noise and the door opened on its own. I expected a hallway but it was just a hole in the ground with running water going through it. Scarlett jumped up and down and grabbed my arm in excitement.

"It's a water slide!" She screamed happily. I chuckled and stared at it. She wasn't wrong but I don't think it will lead somewhere either of us want to be.

 _"You guys are making great time. You woke up at noon and it's only three-thirty. Now all you have to do is kick this last enemy's ass and you'll be done! Hooray! Then...I GUESS...I can let you chill for the rest of the day...BUT! Don't think I'll let you every other day! Just this once! Hehe~"_ Midna commented from my shadow. I rolled my eyes, which I found myself doing more often, while Scarlett was still distracted by the supposed water slide. Does Hyrule even have a waterpark? I'll ask Princess Zelda the next time I see her.

"Alright let's do this," I told Scarlett.

"Yeah, I'm ready," she said as we both jumped into the hole. We slid down a long tunnel before ending up in a room filled with water. There was no surface at all which made me glad that the Zora Queen gave us these underwater tunics. It was dark in here and the water felt cold. Down below there was a set of pillars that suspiciously looked like an environment to fight a damn boss in! I used my iron boots again to drop us down to the sand bed, and as soon as our feet touched the sand the ground began to shake. Emitting from the sand, a huge mouth rose up and snapped its many sharp teeth at us. Then, a number of tentacles rose up from the deep sand as well and slithered all over the room. Scarlett gave me that look that said, "Oh great, we're gonna get raped". And then the letters appeared.

 _ **Twilit Aquatic: Morpheel**_

AGAIN, WHY THE HELL DID THOSE LETTERS JUST APPEAR IN FRONT OF US!? IT'S LIKE WE'RE IN A GAME OR SOMETHING! WHAT THE FUCK!?

A big red eye shot from one of the tentacles and floated around while staring at us. I gave Scarlett a glance and felt like laughing. This might be easier than I thought. I took out my clawshot and shot it at the eye. Yep, too easy. The claw grabbed onto the eye and brought it back to me, giving Scarlett and I the chance to slash at it with our swords. We got four hits in each before the tentacles starting grabbing at us. One managed to snake its way around Scarlett's waist but I was able to cut it off before it took her. She gave me a smile and we continued to slash at the eye until the monster screamed at us in pain. Oh good, it looks like we're-...OH MY FUCKING FARON WOODS! The mouth rose up from the sand and it was actually a part of a much larger monster!

It swam around in the water above us and knocked down a couple of the pillars that surrounded us. The eye that we had been attacking now rested on the head of the...giant eel...we're gonna call it a giant eel, and looked at us with an almost taunting gaze. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Scarlett trying to get my attention and I looked at her to see what plan she had. Based on her hand motions it seemed like she wanted to distract Morpheel while I attacked the eye again. At first, I hesitated because I didn't want her to get hurt but she swam away before I could protest. I mentally huffed and swam up with her as the giant eel knocked over another concrete pillar, causing the pieces to float down to the sand slowly. Scarlett swam quickly in front of it and the eel screeched at her with deadly-looking teeth. She smirked as I swam behind the aquatic enemy and thrusted myself to the top of its head. Its eye widened at the sight of me but I got to it before it could do anything about it. I made sure to finish the job this time and held myself tightly to the reptilian-like skin of the eel as I slashed at the iris as many times as I could. Before long, Morpheel screeched again and swam erratically through the water. I got thrown off and spun uncontrollably. I've never been so dizzy in my life! The only reason I stopped was because Scarlett caught me in the water. I shook my head and looked up to see Morpheel slam into the wall. It was like a damn bull running at a red cape. That bastard wrecked that thing! After that, it of course died and sank to the ground. The water in the room began to recede until Scarlett and I were now standing on solid ground and breathing air.

"That was easier than I thought it would be…" I said after thinking about it. Scarlett laughed and shook the water off her body. "Yeah, he sucked ass."

He really did. His large body laid motionless in front of us before exploding into black twilight bits and pieces, leaving behind a glass-shaped heart in a small puddle of water. We both knew what that meant! That heart would make us even stronger!

"I want to break it this time," she said. She walked over to it and picked up the large-sized heart of glass. She then threw it on the ground and the red essence inside the glass enveloped itself around us. I instantly felt my muscles become stronger and my senses increase. Scarlett felt the same but then leaned forward in surprise.

"What?" I asked. She looked at me with big eyes and looked down at her chest.

"Okay...this may sound crazy...but I swear to Hylia that heart just increased my breast size. Not even kidding! They feel bigger!" She yelled. I blushed and then smiled.

"Doesn't seem to be a problem though."

"Shut up you perv," she laughed, punching me in the shoulder. I grinned as Midna shot herself from my shadow.

" _Well that was disappointing! All of that just to face this sack of crap? Pathetic! But you two did become stronger, Scarlett's boobs got bigger, and I got what I was looking for,"_ she told us, swinging a part of the helmet we've been trying to get this whole time. Scarlett gave her a look while I laughed.

"Let's just get the hell out of here before I have to pee again. Seriously, all this water isn't helping! Plus, I can't wait for that day off you promised us."

" _Yeah, yeah…"_ Midna muttered. She snapped her fingers and the temple around us started to fade from sight.

From here, It's on to the next dungeon I guess...I just hope it doesn't have any damn fish in it!

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! I told you guys it would take me a long time to write this just because it was kind of hard to. Also school and work is a huge setback and causes me to be late on my updates. But now you have this chapter! That water temple really sucks but it was worse in Ocarina of Time. I hope you guys liked the chapter though! I tried really hard on it but I'm still learning. Please review or comment on the story and tell me what ideas you have! It really helps and only takes like five seconds! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you next time! P.S. Have an awesome spring break!**


	17. Chapter 17: Exploring Hyrule Castle

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter. I think these dungeon chapters really help my story grow on this site haha. After I had posted that water temple chapter the number of followers and favorite shot up as well as overall views for the story so keep it up guys! You're awesome so far! To be honest though, I'm so glad I'm done with that water temple. It's definitely not my favorite dungeon in the game but I think the chapter went well. It was really freaking long, I know that. But anyway, we're on to the Master Sword I think which means we're going back to being wolves! I'm also getting more of Dante's point of view as he infiltrates the castle and tries to find Princess Zelda. I hope you like it! Please leave a review or comment and tell me what you think! If you have any ideas those help to! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 17: Exploring Hyrule Castle

 **(Link's POV)**

Scarlett and I reappeared at Lanayru Spring near Lake Hylia. The spring was the same as when we had left it. The spirit floated in the spring down below and illuminated the dark cave with its light. It was really pretty now that we had time to look and enjoy it. It was as if the light was an electrical current that surged throughout the cave like a power line. Though, after getting through that water temple and those electric jellyfish maybe I shouldn't use that metaphor. No harm no foul I guess. I tore my eyes away from the glittering lights around us and looked at Scarlett beside me. She had her back towards me and she herself was enjoying her surroundings. Her long blonde hair swayed gently side to side and even gave off it's own light because of how bright it was. To me, the light she gave off was much more beautiful than anything in this cave could ever be. The water from the temple stuck to her golden locks in small glistening droplets that sparkled like stars in the night sky. The Zora pendent in her hair complimented the set even more so. I hope she never cuts her hair. It's too precious to waste away by the edges of a simple pair of scissors. My hand reached up and touched my own hair that was hidden under my Zora hat. It was attractive in it's own right with it's swoosh and everything but nothing compared to this girl's in front of me. My hair was a darkish blond while hers was so...so pure I would say. I'm the mutt and she's the purebred.

Oh no, how long have I been staring at her? I'd probably look like a creeper if she turned and looked at me. Letting my blue eyes fall to the floor I fiddled with the dark blue and black gloves on my hands until Scarlett said something.

"Wow, it's like staring up at the night sky in here. Isn't is pretty?" She said, turning to me with a huge expression of joy and awe on her face. My facial muscles immediately moved themselves into a bright smile and I nodded.

"That's exactly what I thought too. But I've seen prettier things."

She rose one of eyebrows and crossed her arms.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

You don't know how bad I wanted to say, 'you're the prettiest thing I've ever seen Scarlett'. But, even a chosen hero gets shy around girls. I can't believe it but I think I'm actually starting to like Scarlett. Not as a friend but...as a soulmate. I thought I liked Ilia this way but it's a totally different thing with Scarlett. She just has this enthusiasm and beauty about her. Not only is she pretty and tough, but her personality is absolutely breathtaking to me. She thinks so differently than Ilia ever would. Heck, Ilia hardly ever thinks at all! Okay, that was unfair but it's true! Ilia may be my friend but now I realize she could never ever be anything more than that. She can't even remember me right now so that had to be a sign of some kind telling me she wasn't the one. However, Scarlett is a different story. She's just so unique in her thinking and so nice. Other than the pedophilic postman, I don't think I've ever seen her be mean or rude to anyone. And she makes me laugh which, by the way, is a difficult thing to do nowadays. To be honest, if Scarlett hadn't been with me through this whole thing I don't think I would've succeeded as far as we have. I just hate it that I don't have the guts to tell her how I feel right now. No worries though. I want to see how my feelings evolve on our journey. Then, when the right time comes, I'll make the right decision.

"Umm...just something back at Ordon Village," I lied.

"Hmmm...I guess you'll have to show me whatever it is when we go back to the village. In the meantime, what should we do now?" She asked me. I crossed my arms and closed my eyes to think about it. I honestly don't remember. Should we just go back to town and figure something out there? I could just ask Midna where the next dungeon is or whatever. Opening my mouth, that's exactly what I intended to do until my eye caught sight of a figure on the other side of the room. It had a relic-designed sculpture on its head with an ancient outfit on as well. My eyes widened when the figure disappeared and reappeared right in front of me. I gasped and fell backwards as the figure stared at me through the concrete mask it wore; its giant eyes and massive tongue sticking out. Scarlett was instantly at my side, holding my arm and helping me up.

"Are you okay Link?" She whispered. I nodded and we both backed away from the mysterious man in front of us. Midna shot herself out from my shadow and gritted her teeth in anger.

 _"Zant! What are you doing here!?"_

The figure, though not visibly, was probably smirking behind that mask.

 _"I see that you and these two...wastes of space...have been busy gathering these fused shadow pieces of the helmet. Do you really think something like that could ever be a threat to a king like me? Midna, I had no idea you were so...rebellious..."_ He muttered, licking his lips. I felt myself shudder at the mere presence of this guy and I could tell Scarlett's heart was beating really fast. Midna laughed mockingly and glared at Zant.

 _"You? A king? As if! All you do is abuse the magic of your tribe. Don't make me laugh!"_

That seemed to seemed to strike a nerve in the man because he took a step back and started stuttering like an idiot.

 _"You mock my royal title!? How dare you! This power of mine was granted to me by my god! It is the magic of he, thy king of Twilight, and you will bow down to it just like everyone else. Oh Midna, look at you. You do know that those two light dwellers next you are a part of the light that oppress our people right? No matter how much you try you will always just be a shadow in their world. Why bother becoming friends with them if they can barely see you? Mingling with their kind is useless. They all deserve to die!"_ He screamed loudly. I felt Scarlett's hands touch my shoulders and I turned to see her hiding her face from Zant's gaze. I laid my hand over hers and whispered to her that it would be okay. At least I hope it will be. Zant continued on with his rant.

" _...However...I think it would be more beneficial if we made them our slaves Midna. Just think about it. Darkness, sweet darkness, would blot out the sun and cover the land in its delicious essence. We can achieve that. You and I, Midna. Join me so that we can make our people proud!"_ He offered. Midna hissed at him and glared at the man.

" _Screw you!"_ She retorted.

That seemed to piss Zant off even more.

" _Fine. Be that way. You want to stay in the light world so bad? I'll give you more light than you could ever ask for!"_ He yelled. Right then, the Lanayru spirit shot up from its spring and screeched at the masked villain. That gave me some hope that we wouldn't have to fight him but that hope shattered when Zant lifted his arm and sent a shockwave out towards the spirit. Lanayru flew backwards into the cave's wall and sunk down into the water below. Zant then turned to us and did the same thing. The shockwave felt like a punch to the stomach. Scarlett and I both gasped with blood flying out of our mouths as we hit the floor. My vision became blurry as I laid there on the ground. I stared at Scarlett and her eyes were slowly fluttering to a close. She looked up at me from where she was and, with some effort, inched her hand towards mine. I used all of my remaining strength to do the same until our hands connected. I heard Midna scream in terror before everything went black. I had no idea whether this was the end or not but at least I didn't die alone. Scarlett was right there with me so at least I can take some solace in that. I just hate that we weren't able to save Hyrule. It didn't even take that much to kill us either which really pisses me off. A simple shock wave did us in. I guess we weren't as strong as we thought we were...Wait a minute...Am I waking up? I felt my eyelids lift up from the deep darkness of my conscious and I was greeted with the sight of grass. My eyes widened and I shot up from the ground. I wanted to yell "I'm alive" with glee but all that came out was a bark. Looking down, I found paws which meant I was a damn wolf again...To my right, Scarlett in her wolf form laid unconscious near the water stream that led into Castle Town. How the hell did we get here right in front of the town gate? Nevermind, I have to see if Scarlett's okay. Running over to her I whined and nudged her head with my snout. Her eyes opened when I did that and I felt like I needed to take a sigh of relief. When she saw me, her green, emerald eyes widened just like my blue ones had as she realized we were wolves again. Luckily for us, we understood each other since we were both canines now.

"Are you okay Scarlett?" I asked her. She stood up on all fours and nodded.

"Y-Yeah...What about you?" She asked back.

"Yeah I'm okay. How did we get in front of Castle Town? And where's Midna?"

" _I'm...here…"_

I turned my head and saw that the voice was indeed Midna's. I didn't even realize she was on my back. I've gotten so used to it that I just didn't notice. Laying on my back, she looked extremely pale and weak. I was just about to ask her if she was alright but she knew what I was going to say before I said it.

" _Please...no questions right now...Just find the Princess...Princess Zelda...She'll know what to do…"_ Midna told us quietly before closing her eyes and going limp on my back. I turned to Scarlett and she nodded her head towards the castle.

"I don't know what happened but we can't worry about that now. The Princess should be in Hyrule Castle right now. Let's hurry Link," she barked. I agreed and the two of us ran towards Hyrule Castle. The sky above us, as if it knew of the atmosphere, became crowded with dark clouds and it began to rain. That was just great. This only made it harder to get to the castle. But we had to get there quick. We had to get there to save Midna…

* * *

 **(Dante's POV, Two Days Earlier)**

I watched Scarlett and her partner, Link, guide Telma's carriage out into Hyrule field before I headed back into Castle Town. First of all, Telma is totally an annoying bitch. Second of all, HOLY CRAP I FOUND SCARLETT! she's been missing for a while now and I've been worried sick. I thought my hair was gonna turn grey or something like that! She looks completely different than the last time I saw her though. That outfit she's got on, I admit, makes her look pretty fresh! Though, she always looks her best I guess. I'm glad she's okay. I hope her parents know that she's in Castle Town. What am I saying? She probably went to go see them as soon as she made it back. The thing that's still a mystery to me is that sword and shield she had on her back. The Scarlett I know can't fight for shit unless it's with a bow. Why did she have that in the first place? And how did she meet her friend, Link? I mean, he seems cool and all but I'm just wondering.

"Dante! You ready to explore the castle!?"

I shook myself from my thoughts and looked around. I was in the market near the entrance of the West Gate and a guy wearing the same armor as me was waving at me with a smile. He looked pretty excited to be on this mission with me. Can't say I blame him. I was pretty psyched about it myself.

"What's up bro!" I said, "sorry I was just thinking about some stuff."

"Well forget about whatever you're thinking about and focus on that beauty right there!" He said, pointing at the magnificent castle that towered over Castle Town. I smiled and tilted my head up to observe the castle for a second. It was definitely larger than any building I've ever seen. The most distinct factor of the royal building was its main tower which was said to be four floors high. That's pretty freaking high! On each side of the main tower stood three smaller towers that stuck out slightly and looked to be almost perfectly crafted by Hyrule's best carpenters.

"...you think we'll find the princess?" My friend, Evan, asked me with bright sea green eyes. I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders.

"Who knows but if I find her first I call dibs."

"Pshh as if. I'm gonna find her first," he stated with a confident smirk. He was always like that, especially when we were in the academy together. I just rolled my eyes at him and took a deep breath. I was ready to go in the castle now. What else was I gonna do right?

"You want to just go now bro? The sun is starting to set so we should probably get in there before it does."

"Sure," he replied. The two of us grabbed whatever weapons we felt we needed, which was just a simple sword and shield, and headed towards the castle. We passed the grand fountain in the town square before heading north. We crossed the bridge over the moat and stopped in front of two soldiers who kept any civilians from getting in the castle.

"Are you the two the ones going into the castle to look for the princess?" One of them asked. We both nodded and said that we were.

"Alright yeah, the captain said you two would be showing up about this time. I hope you guys are prepared for what might be in there. There's no telling what kind of monster lurks inside the castle. Nobody has seen the princess ever since that one incident a few days ago. But, nobody has tried to go in since the captain ordered the castle off-limits to everyone. There were some soldiers inside the castle when that day happened so you might be able to help them out. You got your first-aid kits?" The man asked. I patted my hip where my kit was and Evan did the same.

"...okay good. We're going to go ahead and let you two in now. Be careful and try to find the princess as soon as possible. We would've had more soldiers go with you but the majority of the unit is investigating the disappearances outside the town wall so we're short of men right now. Just don't be alarmed if more men are sent inside because I promise you there'll be some," he told us as he and his buddy opened the large wooden gate for us. We tried to assure them that it would be alright but they still held that same stern look on their faces when we walked through the gate. I've never been here so I had no idea what to expect. I was surprised when the first thing we entered was a huge courtyard. The yard was filled with several sculptures that were sculpted to the very last detail. A myriad of flowers surrounded the courtyard and blew gently with the wind. That was the only sound that could be heard here; the wind. It was sort of an eerie feeling being here alone. Yeah I had Evan here too but still!

"Damn bro this place is giving me the creeps," he muttered as we walked through the courtyard slowly and carefully. For some reason, I just had this feeling that something would jump out and attack us but that never occurred as we reached the official entrance to the castle. It was a simple room with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The floor was pure marble that just gave off a luxurious essence. The only negative thing about this place was that it was dark. Too dark. The lanterns that hung on the walls had gone out due to no one fueling the light and that had caused the room to be barely visible inside. Luckily, we came prepared.

"Yo Evan, you got some lantern oil on you? I only carried enough for us to explore the castle. I just don't want to use it in the first room."

"Sure thing I brought a lot of it because I knew you would be a little bitch about it," he said with a smirk. Again, I rolled my eyes and watched him light the room. That's better. Looking around, there were some paintings of old historical figures but I wasn't much of a history buff. There was a door on the level we were on as well as a door that was up a small set of stairs.

"Let's try the upper floor," I suggested. Evan nodded and we walked through that door to enter another room filled with tall knights of shining armor. They were just for decoration though. However, as we walked deeper in the room we noticed that we had both stepped on a type of liquid. Glancing at our boots, we lifted it up to see red. Don't tell me that's blood. I looked back up and let my eyes follow the blood trail until it ended at two soldiers on the ground.

"Crap…" I whispered as I ran over to them. Evan ran to the other soldier and we patted them on the back.

"Hey! Are you okay!? H-..." I stopped when I turned the soldier over. The man still had his helmet on but his chest was completely ripped apart. No organs could be seen. The other soldier suffered the same fate. We looked around the room for any other soldiers but only ended up finding where the deceased soldiers' orgams had went. A splatter of blood stained the wall with the heart and intestines at the bottom of it.

"Gods that's disgusting! What the hell happened here!?" I asked, standing up. Evan shook his head and covered his nose.

"I don't know but it really stinks in here. Maybe we should go back and wait for reinforcements."

"No this is our first official mission and I don't want to look like a pussy just because you got a little scared. As long as we stick together we'll be okay. Besides, I don't think whatever killed these soldiers is here anymore. The place is completely silent," I told my friend. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Okay okay but sticking together didn't keep these poor bastards from dying. Just sayin'."

Alright Evan, that really doesn't help. Even though this made me nervous I still wanted to prove myself to the captain and the rest of the team. And really, what did I have to lose? I told Evan to follow me as we left the two lifeless bodies and made it to the next room. Well, it was more like a hallway. A long ass hallway to be exact. More portraits of figures cluttered the wall with the floor covered in bright red carpet. There were blood stains on it too and any decorations that had been in here was already broken. Vases were shattered, the wallpaper was ripped, and glass covered the majority of the floor. Right next to me, Evan whined again.

"Oh man! What the hell!? Dante, please tell me why the captain decided to only send us here instead of a whole group of soldiers!?"

"It's probably because he didn't know of the condition of the inside of the castle. Plus, you heard the guards at the front gate. They said we were short on men. Now quit your whining before I kick you in the balls," I threatened. He glared at me and muttered something about armor protecting his crotch. The both of us walked down the big hallway with our swords and shields in hand. There were a couple of doors on both sides of the hall with a large door in the center. That probably led up to the throne room. We'll check that room last. I shook my head as I looked from my left to my right and then left again.

"Which one...If Scarlett were here she would pick the right one because 'right was always right' to her. I saw her today by the way," I said, turning to Evan. His eyes went wide and his jet black hair flowed from side to side as he took a step back.

"What!? You saw Scarlett today!? Why didn't you tell me earlier!? Where is she!?"

"Well...I saw her at Telma's Bar and then she and her partner decided to escort the big bitch over to Kakariko Village. She told me that she would explain where she has been all this time later but right now, she said, she had some urgent things to do. But dude, she was in a badass outfit. It was like a corset type thing with a short skirt but it was made for fighting I think."

Evan smiled in a perverted way before slowly frowning.

"Wait...you said she had a partner with her? Who was he?"

I blinked and shrugged.

"Oh. She was with this guy named Link. He looked a little older than us but not by much."

"Where did she meet him!? Were they dating?" He asked. I laughed, "it didn't look like it. Besides, why would that matter?"

"Well don't you have a huge crush on Scarlett?" he questioned me like he's always done since we were kids. I gave him a weird look and snorted. "What? No. Scarlett and me are bros. That would be fucking weird. Now that!" I pointed at a portrait of Princess Zelda. "I would totally get with that sexy woman!"

"Who wouldn't!" Evan echoed as we both laughed. The sound of footsteps made us stop immediately and our bodies froze in their place. The footsteps sounded heavy and we could actually feel it in the vibrations of the floor. It was definitely coming from in front of us. Sure enough, a shadow appeared in the crack at the bottom of the large door in front of us and got bigger and bigger with each stomp of a step. Evan and I started to freak out and we both looked around for an escape. The door's gigantic doorknob began to turn and that's when my body just sprinted to the door right of the hallway. I turned around and saw that Evan had gone to the left.

"Dude! What the hell!?" I whispered. He shrugged.

"I panicked!" He whispered. The door to our sides began to open and we were both forced to close both of our doors so that whatever monster was out there wouldn't see us. Sorry Evan, I hope you'll be okay, but you and I are on our own from here on out. I turned around and found the spiral staircase of one of the outer towers. Not giving even a glance behind my back, I ran up the many steps and made sure my footsteps didn't make a sound. Five minutes later and I was STILL RUNNING UP THESE STAIRS!

"Oh Hylia, have mercy on me!" I panted. Fortunately, I ran up and around the last corner of the staircase and was met with a door. This is when I finally looked back at where I originally was. That was A LOT of stairs. Damn. There was a window that gave a view of Castle Town and I found myself looking straight down at the ground from it.

"Holy crap, I've never been this high before in my life," I murmured to myself. Turning to the door next to me, I felt my heart start racing again as I moved towards it. I knew I had to be cautious about this. Hopefully it was just an empty room and not a flesh-eating monster out to kill me. Slowly, but surely, I turned the knob of the wooden door and pushed it outwards. Inside was a hooded figure staring out the window. I stopped instantly and my eyes widened at the person. Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! They turned when the door creaked and I heard a girly gasp come from them when they saw me.

"How did you...Nevermind that…" The figure, obviously a girl, said. She lifted her hood and it just so happens that your boy Dante here found the princess of Hyrule! I couldn't believe it myself. This was the first time seeing her in person. Her face was like porcelain at how smooth and perfect it was. Her cheekbones could cut glass. She had long brown hair that was braided in the front and she also had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. They were really pretty. Her signature golden crown wrapped neatly around her forehead with a bright, shining blue gem attached to it.

"P-P-Princess Zelda!" I exclaimed. She moved over to me and took my hands in hers.

"Yes. I am she. I am glad you are safe. How ever did you manage to get past the twilight beasts that lurk the castle below?" She asked me in that gentle tone of hers. Wow it was like Hylia herself was speaking to me.

"Twilight what? That must've been the thing at the door…" I muttered to myself. Zelda tilted her head as she stared at me and softly smiled.

"Whatever way you came, I'm glad you made it. You are very brave. What is your name soldier?" She asked. I gulped with reddened cheeks and smiled as I bowed. "Dante your majesty." She giggled in the cutest way ever and waved her gloved hand in front of her.

"Oh no, please call me Zelda from now on. Formalities make me sick to my stomach. However, I do appreciate you coming to save me Dante. I knew my kingdom was full of brave youth," she said. She talked so proper!

"I...was just doing my duty Zelda. How did all this happen? How did you get trapped inside the castle? And what the hell is a twilight beast!?"

I had so many questions but she just stared at me like she knew the answer to every single one of them. It just so happens that she did. "It happened the day the Castle was covered in darkness. I'm sure you all felt a shockwave move through the town when it happened. This happened because the leader of the Twilight Realm, Zant, overthrew the twilight princess and invaded our world of light. He raided the castle and his minions continuously killed my men one by one. I rose my sword in defiance but as Zant entered the throne room he gave me a choice. It was a choice of whether to save my people or let them die. He said if I refused to surrender he would unleash his twilight army upon Castle Town and murder every citizen; man, woman, and child. So...I dropped my sword and gave in to his demands. So far...he has not made me do anything irrational. All he has done is lock me in this tower. Every single couple of hours, one of his minions brings me a plate of food and a glass of water so...it could be worse," she explained to me with a sigh. I looked at her sadly and looked down at the ground.

"I'm sorry princess. You shouldn't have been treated that way."

"Don't feel pity for me Dante. Nothing could have stopped what has already occurred. I just wish that my people knew that I was safe.," she said to me. I nodded in understanding and then narrowed my dark pink eyes in thought.

"If you don't mind me asking...Why don't you just leave? There's a huge window right outside the door that leads to the roof. You also have two windows right here."

"I am aware but I cannot leave for two reasons. One, Zant's threat is still existing remember. If I leave he could potentially destroy everyone in Castle Town. The second reason is that he put a magical twilight barrier in the doorway to where only I cannot pass through," she said. I frowned and looked at the door. A twilight magical barrier. I didn't even know shit like this existed.

"Man how am I going to get you out of here then?" I asked her with a groan. She let a small smile appear on her face as she slowly brushed her hand through her hair.

"I do not think that is possible at the current moment. However, I wouldn't mind if you stayed and gave me company Dante. This room becomes lonely and I have no idea what time of day it is," Zelda said. I blinked in confusion again and asked her why she had said that. "...Oh. The twilight barrier put on this room causes time to go faster than outside of it. It is unusual I know but it's most likely been a few hours outside of the room ever since you came inside the room. Does that make sense?" She asked. I nodded slowly and looked out the two windows she had in this room.

"I guess so. But if it's been a few hours wouldn't the sun already be up outside?"

"I assume it is right now. But when they put the barrier up it made the outside appear as if time was frozen for some reason. I am still looking into how twilight magic works. It is a phenomenon of untold proportion. So is your hair color. Is that natural?"

My mouth fell open and my hands shot up to my hair.

"Hey! Yeah it's natural! I know it's pink and all but I've always been told it looks cool.

"I am only kidding Dante," she said while giggling. She was slightly blushing which made my face go as red as a tomato. Gods, she was cute. Wait a second…

"Wait, if time goes super fast then how long have you been in this room ever since they put you in here?" I asked her in pure curiosity. If time went really fast then she's probably only been in here for like a few hours...I think…

"About a day I guess," she replied. Close enough.

"Well now I'm here so you won't be so lonely. What do you want to talk ab-"

 _Woof! Woof!_

Was that a wolf I just heard? I must be going crazy. There's no way some wolf could-...crap nevermind. As I was stuck in my train of thought two wolves just walked in the room like it was theirs and looked around. I backed up to the wall and held out my sword in defense but Zelda extended her arm out in front of me.

"No. It is okay Dante. They are not what they appear," she told me. I looked from her to the wolves. One was dark with white trimming over its fur while the other one was the opposite. I also noticed a small little person laying on the floor in between them. I would say midget but it did not even look human. It looked like a pale alien! What the hell!? The white wolf with the dark trimming was staring at me with its green eyes which I found oddly familiar for some reason. They looked kind of like Scarlett's eyes...Zelda knelt down in front of the wolves and patted the dark one's head. She then turned to the tiny person beside him and I could hear her breath hitch.

" _How...do we break the curse on these two?"_ The tiny person asked Zelda as she held her baby-like hand out. Zelda grabbed her hand and held it tightly as she stared at her and the two wolves.

" _...They are the ones you need. The Gods have said so. They will save your world,"_ the little imp-looking girl said faintly. An imp, yeah! That's what it looks like. But what in the world was she talking about?

" _...So please Zelda...Help them."_

Zelda looked up at me before looking down at the wolves again. She extended her hand out once again and a golden triangle illuminated on the back of the palm of her hand. Okay what is that? I'm so lost.

"What binds these two is a different magic from when they first originally transformed into their canine forms. It is an evil magic. Our world is a world of balance and so there are ways to banish this evil in the ways of light. Head for the Sacred Grove that lies deep within the forest guarded by the spirit, Faron. There, you will find the two blades that have driven evil out of Hyrule for ages; the blade of evil's bane. These blades were crafted and formed by the wisdom of the ancient sages many years ago. They are referred to as the Master Swords. The blades are like poison for evil and they are unable to touch it. And so it sits in the grove, patiently waiting for the two heroes that will one day retrieve them. Those blades are the only thing that can make the evil disappear from your bodies for good. Link and Scarlett, sent by the goddess, I too have had the privilege of carrying special powers by the goddesses," she said, showing everyone the symbol on her hand. Did she just say Link and Scarlett? Chosen heroes!? Okay, I'm seriously out of the loop right now. Then again, now that I think about it, Scarlett does have a mark similar to Zelda's on the back of her hand.

" _Okay...That is where...you two must go...Zelda...can you also...tell them...before I go...where the Mirror of Twilight is…"_ The imp pleaded weakly. Zelda's eyes went wide before she hummed.

"Midna...Don't tell me...You are...Yes...I'm sure of it...Look at you, baring all of this pain and suffering. Well not anymore. Accept this now Midna, I pass it on to you so that you can help these heroes save my kingdom once and for all."

Zelda closed her eyes and her body suddenly began to glow a heavenly light. I even had to shield my eyes from it as she caused the imp to glow with her. The paleness in the imp girl disappeared instantly and it seemed like she had gained her strength back again. She gasped at the princess and looked at the wolves beside her.

" _No! Link! Scarlett! Stop her!"_ She yelled. The wolves looked like they didn't know what to do as Zelda began to glow even brighter. She looked towards me and for some reason I just got this sudden urge to run towards her. So I did. I ran to her as her light became almost blinding. She flinched and tried to push me away but I wouldn't budge as I took her hand.

"No Dante! What are you doing! Get away before you end up coming with me!" She warned. I just smiled and shook my head. "I don't care Zelda! Don't you remember what I said? I'm here to keep you company so that's exactly what I'm going to do!" I told her as my body began to glow as well. She stared at me for a second before smiling and closing her eyes. I guess she gave up on trying to save me from whatever's going to happen. The next thing I knew I saw a world of darkness with Zelda right beside me. I had no idea what was going on but I knew that as long as I was breathing I would be by Zelda's side.

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Was that Dante!? How...Nevermind. I remember him telling me something about his captain giving him a mission to find the Princess inside the castle. I guess he found her. But...Where did they go? I don't think they died, just teleported somewhere. I was so focused on Zelda and Dante that I hadn't even noticed that Midna was back to her old self again.

" _Damn Zelda. That was reckless…"_ She said with clenched teeth. She turned to us and sighed. " _...She gave me her piece of the triforce so that its light would restore my body. Without that, I assume whatever evil is causing all of this found her almost immediately and captured her. An evil greater than even Zant I'd say. I can't prove it but...I just know somehow. That knight was your friend right? He helped us with Telma before you guys escorted her to Kakariko Village?"_

I nodded and she did as well.

" _Well...don't worry about him for now. As long as he's with the princess she'll do anything to keep him safe. It won't be like that forever though. We need to get to Faron Woods and fast!"_

With the snapping of her fingers, the three of us teleported back to Hyrule field and in front of the entrance of Castle Town. Midna hopped on Link's back and we were just about to go but a huge glow distracted us from doing so. We turned to the castle and a prism-like barrier wrapped itself around it. Link and I stood there with stunned expressions on our faces while Midna just tightened her fist.

" _That's the evil I was talking about...Come on...On to Faron woods it is…"_

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! I'm sorry this took so long. I had all my finals for the past couple of weeks and I still have one more so from here on out I should be getting chapters out faster. Now before you ask me about it, the whole Zelda disappearing thing didn't exactly happen in the game versus the way I wrote it, especially with Dante in the mix, but I have my reasons so don't question it just yet! I would link the time described in the room to the world filled with water in that movie Interstellar where it's like 7 years earth-time every hour. So yeah. Anyway, Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you about it so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time! Oh, and Happy Mother's Day!**


	18. Chapter 18: The Legendary Master Swords

**Hey guys! It is time for the next chapter of this Twilight Princess story! Sorry for being gone so long. It was like a month maybe but I had to graduate and all that stuff but I'm back from my hiatus and I'm ready to write some chapters! Hell yeah! I actually have no idea how I'm going to do it but we'll see what happens. I always say that don't I? Oh well, I'm typing on my laptop during my break at work so you guys better give me a review after you're done reading the chapter! Which reminds me...Please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think of it so far! If you have any advice or criticisms then those are welcome as well! Y'all reviewed a lot for the last chapter so I'm pretty grateful for it! Finally, thanks so much for sticking around this long and reading and I hope you like this as much as you did the ones before it. Here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 18: The Legendary Master Swords

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

The sun was starting to rise as we ran across Hyrule field on all fours. Our paws picked up more dirt with each step but we didn't really care. Princess Zelda had saved Midna so it was now our turn to save her. That's the first time I've ever seen the princess in person. She's really pretty. She's more beautiful than what everybody depicted her to be. I sure hope Link didn't look at her in that way. You know...a romantic way. It's not that I'm jealous or anything! But! They just wouldn't be a good couple is all! That's all I'm saying okay! If anything, Dante and her would make a great couple! That way, Dante would stop whining to me about not having a girlfriend and Zelda wouldn't be taking Link away from me. Like, as in being my fighting partner of course! Geez, stop getting the wrong idea! Wait, aren't I just talking to myself within my mind? Oh Hylia, I don't even know anymore. All this twilight air is getting to my brain and making it fuzzy I think. I can barely think straight without returning to la la land.

"Scarlett?"

"Yeah?"

I looked over to Link as we ran in the direction of Faron Woods and saw that his blue canine eyes were staring at me.

"Anything on your mind? You've been kind of quiet ever since we left Hyrule Castle," he said in concern. I gave him the best smile I could as a wolf and ran up beside him to get closer. "There's always something on my mind. I'm always thinking about something one way or another. I was just thinking about the princess is all. And Dante," I replied, my voice softening with the close vicinity we were both in now. He nodded and looked straight out in front of us. You could see the tops of the trees that made up Faron Woods and the leaves that hung from them. He then looked back at me and gave a literal bark.

"Don't worry about them. They'll be fine. We just need to find some way to get to them and everything will turn out okay. It always does right! Now on a more lighter note, how about that princess huh? Isn't she hot!?" He yelled with his tongue hanging out. If I could blush right now, I would have. Instead, I gasped and growled at him.

"What!? Link! W-...Shut the hell up you perv!" I screamed. He laughed and wagged his tail from side to side.

"I'm just kidding Scarlett. Zelda's pretty and all but she's really not my type. I don't go for the rich girl type or the royalty type which is essentially the same thing but I don't care! I like more 'normal life' girls if that makes sense."

I narrowed my eyes at him and then smirked teasingly.

"So you're saying you like any girl who isn't a princess is that it? If so, that's literally everyone except for princess Zelda. You'll just take anybody! Is that what you're saying Link! Don't lie to me I can see it in your eyes!" I said, my voicing hitting a higher pitch which each following word. His blue eyes went wider with every word too and he stopped wagging his tail, which I found adorable that he was able to do that by the way.

"W-What!? N-No! I didn't mean! You know what I meant Scarlett! I like a girl who is kind, smart, pretty, and brave. Not spoiled or too good for anything. That's all I meant!" He told me with a nervous laugh. I stared at him for the longest time before busting out laughing myself. I couldn't keep the act up with a straight face. Once he realized I had been joking he rolled his eyes and gave me a slight growl before running faster towards the woods. I really wanted to tease him about being embarrassed right now but I felt that he had had enough for today. I'll probably tease him later on but who cares!? It's fun seeing him act shy!

 _"You two are idiots..."_ Midna muttered while laying on her stomach on Link's back. I glared at her and she just stared back. _"Did I stutter~"_ She asked slowly. Now she's teasing me! Okay, lesson learned. Karma's a bitch. I was about to say something snarky but she giggled and said she was 'just kidding' before sitting up on Link's back. "When we get into the woods I want you two to be on guard. The gods wouldn't leave the legendary master swords unprotected. And if they did, well they're just dumbasses," she concluded. Well isn't she nice. We were just on the edge of Faron Woods when we noticed a man with an afro sitting on a log.

"This is familiar," I said sarcastically. Link glanced at me and nodded. "Hell yeah it is. Bastard charged me to much for lantern oil. And so did Malo at Kakariko Village! Everybody likes to charge Link too much!" He yelled angrily. I patted his shoulder with my paw and smiled. "It'll be alright. We'll beat him up when this is all over with," I said. He couldn't help but laugh at that. Score one for me cheering him up! Anyway, back to what we were doing, we walked past the man with the afro and stopped in front of the Forest Temple. If we have to go through that again, so help me Hylia. Wait, hold on a minute...Is that...Yeah! There was one of those monkeys we saw in the temple in front of it. Surrounding the monkey was two levitating enemies. Their bodies were made completely out of wood and it was like their sinister smiles and red eyes had been painted on their faces. I would relate them to puppets. I've never seen them before but they really creep me out.

"I got this!" Link said as he lunged forward and killed both creatures with the sharpness of his canine teeth. I watched in awe and it amazed me at how quick he was in destroying the enemy. The puppets disappeared with a poof of smoke and only the strong smell of wood was left behind.

"Good job Link! You're awesome!" I said, running up to him. He smiled proudly and turned to the jumping monkey in front of us. She seemed pretty happy that he saved her as well. She was whooping and hollering at us before she actually spoke to us. Since we were wolves we could actually understand her this time which was a huge improvement from the last time we met.

"Thank you for saving me! Those creatures were scary! How can I repay you?" She asked us. Link and I looked at each other before looking back at her.

"Actually, would you happen to know where the Sacred Grove is? We're trying to find it," Link said to her. She nodded almost immediately and waved her hand for us to follow her. That was definitely easier than I thought it would be to finding this place. Instead of going straight towards the Forest Temple she led us to the right where there was a small ledge.

"Just jump on the branches to the other side of the cliff," she instructed before doing exactly what she had just said. Uh oh, we have to jump over a deep, dark abyss again. I looked at Link and he was already pushing me forward with the tip of his snout. "Come on Scarlett, you can do it. I know you hate heights but Midna will help you out. Just follow her," he said with confidence. I took a deep breath and nodded without arguing this time. What the point really? Midna gave me a smile and floated to the closest branch. She then made her hair glow a bright orange and had it form into a large hand.

 _"I will catch you if you fall so no worries,"_ she said sweetly. Aww these two are awesome friends! Looking down, I couldn't see the bottom of the abyss so my body instantly began to shake. I stayed like that for a second before realizing that there was no sense in being scared. I would be safe with Link and Midna around. So, with a brave heart I leaped across the abyss and found myself on the branch. It shook for a second but went steady once I caught my balance. I gasped and mentally pumped my fist in the air. It felt so good to do that and not die! I did the same thing with the second branch and then with the third. Before long, I was on the other side of the cliff faced with bridges that spun with the wind. Link reached where I was at shortly after and the monkey pointed at the spinning bridges.

"I'm pretty sure you two know how these work. Just wait until the wind stops before crossing."

Link and I nodded and did just that. It was pretty simple since we had already done it when we first entered the Forest Temple. The next area was a series of tightropes across ledges, which I found strange. Who the hell put those there!? Why tightropes at all!? They're so inconvenient! I mean, who do they think we are? The damn circus!? Okay okay, rage over with, let's walk across this damn rope to the other side before I lose my mind. It took some time but I managed to reach the other side without falling to my death. I'm still a little skeptical about Link's earlier statement about how since we were the chosen heroes we couldn't die, but I'm starting to believe it with the amount of luck I've been getting lately.

Finally, we didn't have to jump across any cliffs or abysses because we had reached the other side of the ledge. I had no idea where we were but I could not see the Forest Temple anymore; at least not the entrance anyway. Link came in behind me and his ears perked up in attention behind me. I turned around and saw that there was a howling stone in front of us. Wind blew through the hole in the middle of it and made a hollow, ghostly sound.

"Oh look, another howling stone. Only this time I don't have to sing. I can actually howl!" Link exclaimed happily as he walked up to it. I smiled and followed him before the both of us stopped in front of it. The stone emitted a certain tune that it wanted us to howl. When that happened, a golden wolf would appear on our map Midna carried around. I always loved seeing that part. This time I thought I'd let Link do the howling since he needs to work on his singing voice. Howling is singing but for dogs so it still counts. I gave him that look that he knew meant I wanted him to do something and he sighed.

"Do I have to do it alone? Can't we just do it together?" He asked me with a pleading look. I wanted to stay stubborn and shake my head but that look always got to me. I rolled my eyes at him and nodded. "Okay okay you win this time. Just don't give me that look again," I told him with a laugh. He smiled big and shaped his lips into an 'o' shape so he could howl. What a goofball. I started out howling in a low pitch before moving higher and higher with the tune. He copied my howling exactly and we were in sync. I've got to say, Link's singing is way better when he is a dog instead of a human. That won't make me forget about his singing lessons I'm supposed to give him though! That's gonna be fun! After about ten seconds of our uhh...howling...Midna waved her tiny hands at us.

 _"Alright! You two can stop now! The wolf has appeared on the map so you can shut the hell up!"_ She yelled, pointing to the golden wolf on the map. It looked to be near Castle Town again just like the last one. I looked at Midna and my ears went flat in hurt.

"You didn't have to yell at us..." I murmured. She sighed and patted my head gently.

" _I know I'm sorry, but we don't have time to be howling at stones you know? We need to get to the master swords. Look, the Sacred Grove is up ahead. Let's get going you two,"_ she instructed us. I didn't say anything just because she apologized. That really surprised me. Slowly, but surely, Midna is becoming more like a friend with each passing day. It's weird to think that the first I met her she was completely and utterly annoying. Now she's...a work in progress I'd say.

Entering the Sacred Grove, we came across another howling stone. Wait what? That can't be! They're supposed to come in intervals not one right after the other! It must be a trap or something. I looked to Link to tell him my thoughts but he was already howling in front of it when I wasn't paying attention! What the hell! I ran over to him and nudged his mouth closed with my snout. That better not count as a kiss or some dumb shit like that because I didn't mean it like that!

"It's a trap Link! There can't be a stone right after another one! That defies the laws of..." I paused to think of something.

"Laws of what?" He asked skeptically with a smirk.

"The laws of...The laws of...Well I don't know! It just doesn't feel right! My 'hero senses' are tingling!" I said overdramatically. He kept that smirk on his face and chuckled.

"Scarlett, it's not a trap. There's nothing to be afraid of."

As soon as he said that a horn of some kind sounded itself throughout the forest and we both looked to the side of us to see a creepy, wooden-looking boy with a hat blowing said horn. When he stopped, more of those puppets that attacked that monkey dropped from the trees and twitched at the sight of us. Speaking of that monkey, where did she go!? I shot a look at Link and his mouth fell open in shock.

"You were saying!?" I asked him. If he could shrug I know he would've. Typical Link, I swear. The boy's horn got our attention again and the puppets started levitating over to us menacingly. Link looked from them to the boy and then growled.

"Scarlett! That boy is the one controlling these things. I'll deal with them! You go chase that little brat down!" Link yelled to me before attacking one of the puppets. I hesitated because I didn't want to leave him alone but I knew he would be okay. Turning my view to the front, I focused on that weird kid blowing on his horn. He stood in front of me like he was mocking me and he was even creepier than I originally thought. His face was freaking scary! Luckily, I had the triforce of courage so I sprinted at him without even flinching! I pounced at him with a bark but he dodged my attack and ran away in the other direction through the woods; all while laughing like the little douche bag he was. I ran after him and found out that the Sacred Grove was like a maze. The wooden kid turned left and then right and then upside down. Yeah I said upside down, you gonna question me about it? I followed him the best I could and was panting in exhaustion when he finally stopped retreating from me.

"Damn. I like to run but I think you got me beat kid," I said between breaths. The boy giggled and shook his flat wooden ass at me. I took this chance to make another move. I jumped at him and managed to bite him with my sharp teeth. He laughed even harder and vanished before I could even react to it. I was left confused and my head looking side to side searching for the little guy. I guess I beat him. Next thing I know, the heavy sound of rocks grinding against each other sounded through my ears and I looked in front of me to find a new passageway. Well okay...

"Scarlett!"

I heard Link yell my name from the other side of the woods and I yelled back so he would know where I was at.

"Link! I'm on the other side of the grove!" I yelled to him. He understood me and traveled all the way to my location. He got lost a couple of times from the different pathways but he found me nonetheless with the sound of my voice. He exhaled deeply and wagged his tail at the sight of me.

"Hey, those puppets were horrible! Did you get that kid?"

"Yeah I got him and then he just vanished. But, this new room appeared in front of me," I explained to him, nodding at the newly-discovered room. He nodded as well and smiled.

"I bet you five rupees that's where the master swords are. Come on, let's check it out."

The two of us walked to the new room in the Sacred Grove and scanned the room around us. It wasn't anything special, just some stone pillars here and there. That was my initial thought before I saw the titanic-sized triforce symbol on the ground below us! Holy crap! How did we miss that!?

"I think we're in the right place..." Link whispered.

"You think?" I asked with a laugh. The only problem was what would be our next move? There wasn't exactly a set of instructions to go by. Link and I had to figure everything out ourselves. Though, that wasn't exactly news. "What do we do? There's gotta be something 'hero' related that we need to do to make this triforce light up or something," I said out of thought. Link put on his thinking face and shook his head.

"I got nothing. There are no clues to this place. The only thing I can think of is to..." He stopped to step on the middle part of the triforce triangle and it lit up in a golden glow. He gave me that surprised look whenever he figured something out through pure luck and I couldn't help but laugh again. This boy, Oh Hylia, he's a genius. Although I must say I could've made that happen eventually by simply just walking around the room. But as I was saying, the triforce glowed a bright golden yellow beneath us and the ground began to move. It shook with such intensity that I almost fell off my feet. Said intensity was from the floor dividing itself into separate squares. I sense a puzzle coming! And not just because I'm a wolf and have good senses!

"Whoa, look at that," Link said to me, pointing his paw towards two large statues in front of us. He was right to be amazed by them. They were magnificent in both design and size. In the blink of an eye, the two statues jumped high in the air and landed in front and behind Link and I. This also caused the ground to shake and I ended up falling this time. Damn artificial earthquakes. Link helped me up and stared at the statue closest to him. He walked towards it, hopping from one square to another in the process. This caused the statues to jump to a different ground square they had been on and we were left totally confused.

"What the hell was that!?"

"I don't know! Are you even surprised by this sort of crap anymore!?" I replied back.

"Good point...Got any ideas? He asked me. As if I knew. Didn't he know he was the puzzle solver here? However, I might as well give it my best shot.

"Hmm...Well if we move the statues jump to a different square so I'm thinking it's a code of some kind. And what do codes do? They unlock things. So if we do the right code then maybe the master swords will appear or something like that. Oh wait, there's a door over there hidden in some tree vines. That might be the door we're trying to unlock! Okay! We're doing great so far! I'm noticing that two of the squares we're on have a piece of the triforce symbol on them. Knowing that, I think all we need to do is get both statues on those squares at the same time. Sound like it makes sense?" I asked for reassurance. He grinned and nodded.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. It's always good to have a really smart partner by your side."

My gods, he is so sweet.

"Yeah yeah you can worship me later," I said in delight as I tried to solve the puzzle in my head, "but right now we have to get this puzzle out of the way. Feel free to compliment me as much as you'd like after though!"

He narrowed his blue eyes at me and I snickered.

"...Just kidding! Alright...Let's move a couple of times so I can get a feel for how this is done. I'll let you do all the moving Link since you're better at jumping as a wolf than I am. Plus, I'll be able to focus better if I'm standing still in the same spot," I told him. He nodded and waited for my next order. I told him to jump downwards and when he did the statues jumped in two different squares again. I thought about my next move before telling Link to jump right. The statue that was near him started moving towards me this time and that's when I knew we were going in the right direction. At least I think we are. Because Link's statue jumped towards me when he jumped right I told him to repeat that jump. These statues were obviously drunk in their sense of direction so they both moved a certain way that didn't make any sense at all. But that's okay! You can't make the statues feel bad! So based on how they moved and how it corresponded with the way we moved I had link jump up, left, up, up again, left, down twice, right, and then finally up once again. When Link made his last leap the statues moved onto the squares with the triforce on them. I hoped to the gods that my plan would work and it did! I feel so smart! The door ahead opened up and I gave a sigh of relief.

"Scarlett you are the smartest girl I've ever met," Link said as he walked over to me. He then licked the side of my face and I became completely stunned by it. Did he just...kiss me? Did Link just kiss me!?

"Link did you just kiss me?" I asked, still in my daze. His eyes went wide after he realized what I had just said and he began shaking his head faster than Epona herding some goats.

"What!? No! I meant it as a way of saying 'good job' but as a wolf! Did it come across that way!? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I wasn't thinking Scarlett!" He screamed in panic. His voice was becoming shaky from the nervousness he was feeling inside and I had to stop him there.

"Okay! Okay! It's okay Link haha. If you didn't mean it like that than it's fine. No worries!"

"Really?" He asked. I nodded and he took a deep breath to calm himself down. I know I was starting to freak out but he outdid anything I could've done. He looked like he was just about to pass out! Poor guy...I probably shouldn't have said anything. To tell you the truth I kind of liked it when he licked my cheek. It's the first time someone's ever done that...

"Well...the master swords should be up ahead..." He said awkwardly with a nervous laugh. He turned to the door and started walking towards it with me close behind. He had gotten extremely quiet after that little incident. I hope he wasn't still worried about it...

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME! She probably thinks I'm some sick pervert or something! I honestly meant it the way I explained it. I wasn't even thinking about a kiss but now that I think about it it was technically me kissing her cheek. If I was going to kiss her cheek for real why couldn't I have done it when I was human. I can just see it now. Her perfect face right in front of me...My lips on her cheek in a sign of affection and love. Her skin as soft as the beautiful green grass in Hyrule Field. Oh Hylia, what am I saying? I sound like a lovestruck loser dreaming about something that will probably never be. Judging by her reaction to my accidental kiss on the cheek, I'd say she doesn't like me the same way I like her. And why would she...? I'm just...a dumb country boy who knows how to do a little fighting. She? She's a beautiful, smart, and brave girl who is kind to everyone she talks to. I'm...almost nothing like that...I couldn't be like her even if I tried...

"Link?"

I brought my head up and looked at Scarlett next to me.

"Hmm?"

"Are those what I think they are?" She asked me. I tilted my head in mild confusion before I saw what she was referring to. In front of us were two swords of extraordinary power. They glowed a legendary light that I couldn't quite explain but I just knew these were the master swords Princess Zelda had told us about. The blades were long and embedded with the triforce symbol at the point where the blade and the handle met. The handles were a dark purple with gold trimming. I thought they looked badass!

"I think so," I replied, walking up to the swords. Scarlett did as well until the both of us stopped in front of the blades.

"Now what? Are we supposed to-...whoa!" Scarlett gasped as the sword started to glow a bright light along with our own canine bodies. I watched as my body slowly shifted back into my human self and was surprised that it didn't hurt this time. It usually gives me a slight pain since you know...my bones restructure themselves...but this time I didn't feel a thing which was great! To my right, Scarlett had changed back into her original self and that golden hair of hers shined brightly with the sword in front of her. I stared at her in awe before the light surrounding us went away entirely.

"Hell yeah! We're human again!" Scarlett said, pumping her fist. I laughed happily and did the same.

"You know it!"

 _"Alright guys, I know you're happy to be your old selves again but I really think you should pull those swords out of their pedestals. When you do you'll be even happier!"_ Midna told us while waving her arms up and down. Scarlett and I looked at each other, shrugged, and then did as the little imp had told us. Gripping the handle with both handles, I looked at Scarlett and we both pulled our swords up together. I'm not gonna lie, it felt like I was lifting a 1,000 pound weight but when I felt the sword move up I knew I would be able to raise it out of the stone holder. With the last bit of strength I had I raised the master sword high in the air and felt a big smile appear on my face. The sword felt so right in my hands. It made me feel powerful just holding it. Scarlett turned to me with her sword in the air and grinned.

"Awwwwww shit! We are so badass!" She exclaimed. And rightly so I might add! I swung my sword left and right a few times and was surprised again by how light it felt. Pulling it up was a bitch so I thought it would a heavy-set weapon. I'm so glad I was wrong. After swinging it I decided to take my old sword out of its sheath and replace it with the master sword. It fit perfectly and now I was left with the decision of what to do with my old sword. It had gotten me this far and meant so much to me. Instead of throwing it away I turned to Midna and held it out.

"Midna can you hold this sword for me? I want to preserve it in a special case when this is all over," I said to her. She smiled, one sharp tooth hanging out of her mouth, and nodded. _"Sure thing Link."_

She took it from my hands and made it disappear from her miniature hands. As I have explained before, I gave Midna all the stuff I couldn't carry myself and she sent it to some twilight realm of hers for safe-keeping or something like that. Scarlett did the same and we were back to normal. It was about time! Being a wolf always got tiring pretty fast!

 _"Hmmm well this is weird. The master swords took your wolf forms and basically transformed it into a twilight crystal instead of destroying it. This is much less powerful than the twilight wall which was the reason you two turned into wolves in the first place. From now on, the master swords will keep you safe from becoming a wolf permanently again. However...I'm pretty sure this crystal, if you were to touch it, would turn you back into wolves. The good thing though is that you can turn back into a human whenever you want since you have the master swords now. In case the situation calls for it, you can always use this to your advantage! I think I'm going to keep this little thing"_ Midna said, holding what looked like a pitch black crystal with a orange light flowing through it. I didn't care though. Midna can do whatever she wants with whatever the gods present her I just don't want fleas anymore! For some reason, those little bastards disappear when I turn back into a human! Why is that!? Also, now that I think about it, how come when I turn back into a human my clothes are still on me? Shouldn't I be naked when I turn back to my original form? Or is it because the clothes are heroic ones? These questions must be answered!

"And now we move on to a different challenge. Link, what do you..." she stopped when she looked at me, her leaf-green eyes widening slightly. Was something on my face? She furrowed her eyebrows in a slightly concerned look and started digging in her tiny bag that was strapped to her hip.

"What? What is it?" I asked her in curiosity. She didn't say anything as she took out a small piece of white cloth and rubbed my cheek with it. When she pulled it away I saw that the cloth was bright red. Blood. Lifting my fingertips to my cheek, I felt the pattern of a scratch on it and Scarlett patted the cloth against it once more.

"Are you okay?" She asked me softly. She was so gentle with me whenever I got hurt. Even if it was just a scratch.

"Y-Yeah...I just don't remember getting it. Those puppets must have gotten a hit on me and I must not have felt it. I think the reason you didn't see it at first was because of the fur," I remarked. She nodded, thinking the same thing.

"That sounds about right. Here," she said, pecking my cheek lovingly. I gasped and jumped back, my face as red as a tomato. She giggled and put the cloth back into her bag.

"W-Wha...Wha..."

"That wasn't meant as a kiss, just a little something to make your cheek feel better. My mom used to do that with me all the time as a kid. Does it feel better?" She asked me with that smile of hers. It was contagious. I could feel my face heat up even more and my heart grow bigger as I responded to her.

"Y-Yeah it does. Thanks Scarlett," I said in a sweet tone. I'm sure my pupils had hearts in them or something because I think I'm in love with this girl. She catches me by surprise with her actions every time. I could see that her cheeks turned a small pink before she flicked her blonde hair back with a smile and started for the exit of the Grove. I just stood there in a trance and Midna had to snap her fingers to force me out of it.

 _"Come on loverboy you still have a job to do,"_ She said with a smirk. I turned red again and shook my head.

"N-No! I was just daydreaming is all! Come on, we still have a job to do!" I told her with the stomp of my foot like the teen I was. She just smiled and laughed at how I had repeated what she had just said. Is it that obvious that I like Scarlett? Oh well...As long as Midna doesn't say anything I should be okay. If Scarlett were to find out it might destroy our friendship...and our friendship is the most important thing to me right now. It keeps me going through the array of ungodly trials life puts the both of us through every day. I mean you could go crazy dealing with all the crap that we deal with on a regular basis! Not that I'm complaining. This is much more fun than herding goats into their pins. Why did I even like doing that? Oh crap, I better catch up to Scarlett before she gets lost in the Grove. Running from where I was, I caught up to the blonde-haired girl and smiled.

"So before we do anything do you want to learn the next legendary skill?" I asked her. Her face lit up at the sound of that and her eyes shined a special green.

"Oh my gosh I totally forgot about that! Yeah let's do that. What do you think the next skill will be?"

I thought for a moment before smirking.

"Hmm maybe it's a special skill on how to break your heroic foot in a monster's ass."

She giggled and stopped to trace her hand along her brown boots.

"Pshh! Please. I can do that now without a lesson from our little friend, Shade. I was thinking more like a skill where we could shoot projectiles out of our swords or something. Now that we have the master sword, that might be a possibility. Though, Shade isn't really that exciting. He's very stoic and talks in the most polite way. You know what would be funny? If we set him up with a female skeletal warrior. I would ship it," she said. I laughingly told her to shut up as we walked out of the Sacred Grove. Midna just stared at us with large red eyes and a look of uncertainty. She probably thought we were weirdos. She should be used to our silly conversations by now. We were eighteen for Hylia's sake, what else were we going to talk about?

"Well whatever the skill is I bet it will be awesome," she stated confidently. I nodded in agreement as we made our way back to Castle Town. Speaking of Castle Town, I remember hearing something about a festival of some sort happening in one of the districts of the town. By festival I mean games, dancing, and cool stuff to buy in the shops. It might be pretty fun; especially with Scarlett tagging along. You might could even call it a...date...No! Link don't get ahead of yourself! She's your best friend and you will respect her in every way possible. If she wants to date someone else then it's not your place to deny her of it. But man would I be pissed...Here I go again; rambling on about possibilities and not about actual facts. I turned to her as we traveled across Hyrule Field and tried to sound as smooth as I could.

"Hey Scarlett?"

"Hmm?" She hummed in reply.

"I heard that there was a festival in Castle Town right now. I was thinking that it might be good for us if we took a little break and spent the day playing games and stuff. That sound like fun?" I asked with a grin. She smiled real big and tightened her fist in front of her. "Sure! I'm game! I also heard about the festival but I didn't mention it because I thought that you thought it would be stupid. But yeah, I'd love to go Link," she said, keeping that big smile on her face. She was so pretty when she smiled...

 _"Now hold on a minute! We can't be taking a break when-"_

I cut Midna off with the click of my tongue and the wave of my finger.

"Uh uh uh! YOU SAID that we could have a break after going through the Lakebed Temple. Zant attacked us as soon as we got out so we never really got our day of rest that you promised," I brought up. She frowned and gritted her teeth.

 _"That is...true..."_ She murmured.

"Great! Then it's settled! After we finish learning our next legendary skill it'll be festival time!" I cheered. Scarlett cheered along with me while Midna just glared at us. Hey, she did promise us a day of rest. A promise is a promise. By this time, Scarlett and I had reached the end of Hyrule field where Castle Town was and saw the southern gate of Hyrule's capital. Just beside the gate was the familiar golden wolf just sitting there patiently for us. I glanced at Scarlett and a fire burned in my eye as I asked her if she was ready for this.

"You ready for this Scarlett?"

"You bet! I have a couple of questions to ask Shade when we're done. By now he should be expecting that,"

"He probably does," I remarked with a laugh as we made our way over to the wolf.

Our fourth legendary skill here we come!

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Sorry about the slight delay guys. I'm trying to go faster it's just I had some writer's block with this chapter. I hope you can't tell. I will say that even though there will be a festival in the next chapter it's not going to be something like you would expect. No, it's not going to take up the whole chapter. No, there's not going to be fireworks at the end of it where Link and Scarlett kiss. I think I've read that about a hundred times. Besides, it's too early for them to be kissing muahahahahaha! I'm such a tease aren't I? But yeah I just wanted to get that out there so you're not like "Oh my god a freaking festival chapter" lol. You know what I mean. Please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time!**


	19. Chapter 19: Skills and Activities

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! I'm very behind on updates mainly because of my schedule but also because I'm extremely lazy! I do, however, spend a lot of time just thinking about some ideas for all of my stories and I also have to work on those too, not just this one. I hope you guys understand that and won't get mad at me! Though, none of you have so that's a good thing. I am currently in New Zealand right now and am heading to Australia tomorrow for another four days before heading back to Alabama. The only time I have to work on this is when we go to bed at the hotel but I hope to update before I return home. Please review or comment on the story and tell me your thoughts and ideas! Finally, thanks so much for reading up to this point and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 19: Skills and Activities

 **(Link's POV)**

Upon seeing Scarlett and I walk towards him, the golden wolf turned his head slightly towards us but made no sound. He growled during the past couple of times we have seen him but this time he knew it wasn't necessary. I'm not quite sure why it was necessary in the first place but...oh well. He still made us walk all the way to him instead of him coming for us, which was a real douche move, but exercise is good right? Once we reached him the world of just whiteness surrounded us and the air became heavy with tension. I'm not sure if it was just me or Scarlett too because my body always felt heavier here than in the real world. One theory of mine is that maybe it's because that might help me master the legendary skill better if I can conquer the increased gravity, but that's all I got. Other than the whiteness around us, Shade was standing in front of us in all his skeletal goodness.

" _Good morning young Hero and Heroine. How are you both doing today?"_ He asked us in his bold and crystal-clear voice. I looked to Scarlett and smiled when she answered for the both of us. I knew she loved talking to Shade so I kept quiet. Plus, why talk when you have someone else to do it for you?

"We're doing awesome! Link and I are going to a festival after this!" She told him, sounding extremely excited. I smiled happily in seeing that. Shade tilted his head a little and his shoulders lowered like he was comfortable being there with us.

" _A festival? You have time to go to a festival and be the chosen Heroine of Hyrule all at the same time?"_ he asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. That's funny, I didn't know Shade knew what sarcasm was. You just don't get that vibe from him. Scarlett, of course, acted like herself.

"Well you have to have fun once in awhile! You can't be killing monsters the whole time or your life is going to suck pretty hard! Right Link?"

She turned to me and I chuckled.

"Ha, yep," I said. Shade hummed in thought and replied quickly.

" _Yes...You are right. If all you do is focus your time on the world's evils you might lose seven years of your life and the next thing you know you are eighteen years old and the world has collapsed around you."_

"Huh?" Scarlett asked in confusion. I, too, was pretty puzzled at what he just said.

" _Nevermind. It is nothing. I hope you two have fun at your festival."_

"Thank you!" Scarlett exclaimed, forgetting all about the confusing stuff he said just now, "we will. I've always wanted to go to one ever since I was a kid. I never got to though because I was always sick or something like that...Oh! And look what we got Shade!" She raised her master sword and even in the environment that we were in the sword shined brightly in her hand. Shade gave another hum, this time more in interest.

" _I see. That is good young Heroine. You and the young Hero have claimed the swords that will eventually defeat the evil that has driven Hyrule into the realm of darkness. It is, without a doubt, a major step in your journey. I am proud of both of you,"_ he told us, making us both smile. He was kind of like our dad if you think about it. He gave us advice, taught us some important life lessons, and showed us compassion whenever we needed it. That would also make Scarlett my sister if he was our dad...Okay maybe not our dad but definitely our mentor!

" _...Are you ready for your fourth hidden skill?"_ He asked as soon as he was finished with the past sentence. I looked at Scarlett and she looked at me. We both knew what each other was thinking as we nodded. Shade nodded as well and raised his sword and shield.

" _Very well. I hope you are ready. First, what was the skill you learned in our last session?"_

"The Back Slice," Scarlett and I both said.

" _Good. You two are very efficient in paying attention. I will not need to see you perform the skill this time however. The reason for that will be explained to you once I see you in the near future, but I still believe that you are not ready for this knowledge. Now, your next hidden skill is called the 'Helm Splitter'."_

He's keeping things from us again but I'm gonna let it slide this time because I just love the name of this next skill! "Oh that sounds badass," I slipped without thinking. Scarlett giggled while Shade paused.

" _...Indeed...the skill is essentially adjacent to the 'Back Slice'. It is useless to perform a 'Back Slice' on an enemy fully covered in armor. The skill will not be effective and it will leave you open for an attack that could fatally wound you. Therefore, as a backup, you will use the 'Helm Splitter' instead. First, you will have to hit the enemy with a shield attack so that they will flinch. Then, you will leap into the air over the enemy's head and connect your blade to them from behind. Let me demonstrate,"_ he said as he got ready to perform the skill. He did exactly as he said, first starting off with pushing his shield forward towards us, and then actually flipping over our heads and slashing his sword down. That's as badass as you can get! I mean...damn! Hell yeah!

" _It may look difficult but trust in yourself that you can do it,"_ Shade encouraged us. I looked at Scarlett and nodded with an excited smile. She giggled and took a step back.

"Since you're so excited about it, I'll let you go first this time."

"Haha thanks," I replied as I turned back to Shade. I readied my sword and shield in both of my hands and crouched slightly to get in my fighting stance. Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I rushed towards Shade and pushed my shield at him. The metal connected with his skeletal body and that's when I was given the mental green light to jump and boy did I jump! I jumped high in the air, did a flip as best as I could over Shade's head, and slashed at his back as hard as I could. He fell to the ground but quickly got up.

" _Impressive. You got it on the first try once again. Now it is your turn,"_ he said, nodding to Scarlett. She nodded, immediately getting serious. Gods, she's so cute when she gets serious…

"Hyaa!" She yelled as she recreated what I had just done. It might have been even better than mine if I do say so myself. Shade got up from the ground after being hit and lowered his sword.

" _Excellent job. Both of you. The fourth skill has been passed on. There are only three left so don't forget to practice your sword skills whenever the situation calls for it...Now I assume you have some questions for me Scarlett?"_ He asked, crossing his arms. Scarlett gasped and pointed at him.

"You! You finally said my name! You didn't say young Heroine or something this time!" She exclaimed with a grin. Shade looked surprised for a second as he uncrossed his arms and rubbed the back of his head.

" _Yes, well, I guess you have grown on me. 'Scarlett' is a better name anyway,"_ he chuckled. Okay, did he just laugh? That's never happened before. I could tell Scarlett was thinking the same thing.

"Isn't it!? I'm so glad you've finally grown out of your shell! Get it? Because you're a skeleton person...No that didn't make any fucking sense...Anyway, I have a few questions I think. First, when we were in the Lanayru Spring the spirit provided us with a vision of some kind but only Link saw it. I didn't get to so I was just wondering why I was left out if the vision was supposed to be for the chosen heroes."

" _My best assumption would be that the vision was meant for Link alone and not you. You will most likely be provided a vision of your own. One that Link will not be able to see so there is no need to worry about that."_

He's saying my name as well I guess.

"Okay that makes sense...Question number two! Why in Holy Hylia do we see the names of really big monsters at the end of a dungeon or temple. Like for example-"

Shade held up his hand.

" _It is okay. I know exactly what you are talking about. Just ignore that and do not question it. The mystery behind it surpasses even my knowledge,"_ he told her. I laughed a little while Scarlett snapped her fingers.

"Damn! Thought you would know that one. Alright next is who and how the temples and dungeons were built. There are special puzzles and chests in each of them so I was just wondering about that," she said. He nodded, " _Yes, when Hyrule was created the first people of the land built these temples and labyrinths as a way of showing worship to the Gods and Goddess of Hyrule. As time went on, the enemies of light found themselves within these temples and made it their home. Knowing this, the people built puzzles into the structure of the temple as a way for these monsters to never escape. That is why the most vicious monster is at the end of the temple or dungeon after all the puzzles. I believe each door to these giant enemies is locked and can only be opened by a large key, yes?"_

Scarlett and I nodded and he went on.

" _...I thought so. As for the pieces of the helmet you have been trying to find throughout your journey, I believe the evil forces of the twilight have somehow hid these pieces with these giant monsters in order to keep you two from obtaining them. Does that answer your question?"_

"Yes! Thank you so much! This is awesome! I do have one more question for you though. Will you finally tell us if the special 'Hero' weapons we are finding in these temples were actually yours?" She asked him. Shade shook his head and if he could smile I'm sure he would.

"I will explain everything pertaining to that later. But for now, safe travels my young heroes. Fight together always to defeat the darkness that threatens Hyrule…"

Once he said that he vanished along with our surroundings. We were now in front of one of the entrances to Castle Town again. I took a deep breath and rubbed my temples. "Wow, too much knowledge for this country boy at one time."

I was met with a slap to my arm and a laugh from my ever so faithful partner.

"Oh shut up you're a genius. I'm surprised he actually answered most of my questions. And they were pretty informative too! Like, I feel like I got a little history lesson," she laughed. I smiled as she flicked at her hair. "...but enough learning! You know what we should do now?" She asked. I hummed and put my hands on my hips while looking at the ground.

"Go to the festival?"

"Go to the festival!" She repeated, grabbing my arm and taking me with her across the bridge. When we got to the front doors of Castle Town we entered them to see the town transformed. The usual bland colors of the ground and walls were replaced with vibrant hues of red, orange, and yellow. It was very similar to a sunset. People were dressed in various costumes and kids had paint on their face without a care in the world. After looking around I looked at Scarlett and her eyes were so bright I just had to beam in joy..

"Whoaaaaaaaaaa…" She said like a kid at a candy store. It was extremely adorable. I waved my hand in front of her to get her attention but she still stared out at the exciting environment.

"This is so cool Link! I can't believe I never got the chance to go to one of these! Come on let's go...Hmm...throw darts! You win a prize if you hit the center right?"

"Uh-huh. I think you win a stuffed animal," I said.

"Really!? Holy crap let's go win one!"

She pulled me over to the dart booth and it was unsurprisingly empty with only the clerk at the counter. The game was pretty hard, at least for a common citizen of Castle Town. The game was actually quite simple. All you had to do was get the dart in the middle of the target. The target was just a circle with three layers consisting of green on the outer end, the yellow in the middle, and the red being in the center. You needed two things: a good arm and excellent precision. Fortunately for us, I have both!

"I got this Scarlett. I'm gonna get you that cat up there," I said, pointing at a cute feline stuffed animal. She gave me a hopeful look and took a step back.

"You will huh? I'll love you forever if you do!" She said, laughing with reddened cheeks. I blushed and swallowed hard. To her that was probably just making a joke but to me this meant that this dart meant life or death for our relationship! In my dreams I know, but I'm going to get this dart in the center nonetheless!

"Two darts please," I told the clerk with two fingers held up.

"That'll be ten rupees kid," the clerk said. Alright first, I'm not a kid. I'm eighteen fucking years old. Second, five rupees a dart!? Holy crap that's expensive! With the roll of the eyes, I gave him the money and he, in return, gave me two darts. I gave the second one to Scarlett and then focused on the target. Gripping the dart in my hand I narrowed my eyes at the center of it and once I thought I would hit the mark I threw it. The dart flew through the air and made a loud impact right on the border of the yellow red part. Of course for me it was on the yellow end. I silently cursed while the clerk chuckled mockingly. I'd like to see him try...

"Almost! That was super close Link!" Scarlett said behind me. I have her a sad smile and bowed my head a little.

"Not close enough," I laughed dryly. She shook her head and looked at the clerk.

"Hey, Mr. Clerk or whatever, is it against the rules to use the dart on a bow like a bow and arrow?" She asked him. The clerk crossed his arms in thought and shrugged.

"Technically not. Though, I don't know why it would make a difference. Why don't you give it a shot."

Hearing that, Scarlett smirked and turned back to me. Taking out her bow, she laid it in my hands and took a step back again with her hands behind her back.

"You know what to do."

"Haha yep," I said back as I put the dart on the string of the bow and pulled back. This was much better because I was much better with a bow than just throwing the dart.

"Gotcha."

I let the dart go and sent it flying right in the center of the center! I pumped my fist with pride while Scarlett cheered along with me.

"What the!?" The clerk yelled in shock, "how the hell did you do that!?"

I shrugged.

"I guess I just got some mad skills. I'll take the cat by the way."

He glared at me for a second but turned around and got the cat for me anyway. It was about the size of a real cat so it wasn't one of those huge plush toys you typically see at one of these booths.

"Thank you very much," I told the irritated clerk before handing the cat and the bow back to the girl behind me. Her green eyes glistened for a second as she took the cat from my hands.

"Link, oh my gods, you're so awesome. I'm gonna sleep with this at night from now on. It'll be my little kitty guardian, she said, smiling. I grinned and pointed my thumb at myself.

"What!? That's what you got me for! And besides, I probably wouldn't have made it if you hadn't came up with that 'bow and arrow' idea. You're so smart haha."

We had gotten away from the dart stand and we're now walking along the main road where many of the kids were running around screaming about who knows what. Scarlett threw her hand in the air and made a sort of snorting sound.

"Well, you looked so sad when you didn't get it the first time I just had to think of something to make sure you would get it the second time," she told me. I smiled a little. "Did I?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. She nodded and stared into the eyes of the cat I had won for her.

"You may not realize it but you look so defeated when you're sad and it's the saddest thing to see too. You look like a puppy who's just been kicked. It's pretty depressing. That's why I have made it my personal mission to never let you be that way for as long as I can manage it!" She announced, climbing on top of a stone platform and staring up at the sky. The sun was shining through the clouds so she literally looked like an angel right now. I felt my heartbeat quicken as I spoke.

"Then...I'll do the same for you..." I muttered shyly. She looked down and smiled happily.

"I knew you would say something like that." She jumped off the platform and stretched. "...That's why we're the perfect team! Now come on! Let's...get our faces painted!"

"Haha yeah-...wait what!?" I yelled.

"Come on!" She grabbed my arm again, and before I knew it we were on our way to the paint stand. Damn this girl is strong. All that training and fighting does wonders to the both of us. However, none of it prepared me for the painting of my face! I was literally forced into a chair while a lady painted a cat on my fine features. It would be a cat wouldn't it? When she was done I had whiskers and a cute little kitty nose along with some orange and black stripes underneath both of them.

"Oh. My. Goodness. You are so cute! Say something cat-like!" Scarlet said as she examined my new face. I frowned and glared at her.

"Meow."

"Hehe, that's the spirit," she yelled, pinching my cheeks. My frown turned into a smile at her touch. I could never be mad at her for more than thirty seconds. Curse this love struck crush I have for her! But now it was her turn. I quickly got out of the seat and put her into it. Her eyes widened for a second before she started thrashing around in an attempt to escape. She was laughing while doing it so she wasn't trying that hard to get out of the seat. I turned to the painter and told her what to paint as fast as I could.

This is will be my sweet revenge I guess!

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Oh crap Link's totally getting his revenge on me right now. He held me in the seat as he turned to the painter and grinned devilishly.

"Paint a damn cat on this girl!"

Shit. Well this is what I get...

"A cat? Got it!" The painter said as she swirled her paintbrush in the many colors of her palette and then slid the end of that brush on my cheek. I stayed still and closed my eyes until she told me she was done. It took about two minutes so it didn't take that long. When I opened my eyes I found Link staring at me. Was he blushing?

"How do I look?" I asked.

"Like a bad kitty," he replied like he knew what I was going to ask. I gave him a pout before giggling. He's so crazy. Getting out of the seat he had FORCED me in, I punched his arm playfully and then hooked my arm with his. His cheeks noticeably turned red again as he became confused.

"W-What?" He asked me nervously. For some reason boys always get so shy around girls. Link is no different. It's kind of sweet though. He's usually so tough and strong and seeing him like this makes me smile.

"We're both cats so just like our human counterparts we have to stick together! Besides, this is what you do at a festival right? Link arms with whoever you go there with?"

He gulped and shook his head.

"W-Well actually...you hold hands with that person usually..." he muttered. I blinked and nodded.

"Oh yeah," I said, removing my arm from his and putting my hand in his instead. His strong fingers locked together with my soft ones as we held hands. His hands were so warm and strangely comforting, as if it felt right to hold it. My hands, as always, were cold. I have no idea why they were always cold but they were! Hopefully Link doesn't mind. We began walking along the road again, passing by the many booths and food stands that had been set up for the tiny festival in Castle Town. It was nice to see the town starting to cheer up from the events that happened a couple of weeks ago. The princess's disappearance really took a toll on the people but it was getting better. As Link and I walked, I started lightly swinging our hands back and forth as I watched everything around us. Link looked at me and he looked really happy to be here with me. I looked back at him and brought my free hand to my chin.

"Say, I didn't think of this until now but how have you been to a festival and I haven't. Yeah, I mean I was sick or doing something during the festivals in the past but what about you?" I asked him. He chuckled and raised his hand up and then back down.

"Scarlett, even though I live in a small village that doesn't mean we can't have festivals there. If we didn't everyone would die of boredom!"

"That's probably true," I acknowledged, "were the festivals in your village fun?"

He laughed.

"Haha, no they fucking sucked! This one is way better! Especially with you here Scarlett," he added. My face heated up for a second before something came to mind.

"But what about Ilia? Didn't you spend time with her during the festivals?"

He gave me a scowl and shook his head.

"Yeah but she was nothing like you Scarlett. See, you're funny, exciting, and you actually want to spend time with me and talk. All she wanted to do was complain about this and that and then just skip the festival to go somewhere else. I know I liked her but that's only because I thought she was the only choice I had in terms of a girlfriend...Pretty pathetic right?" He asked. I shook my head and smiled. Hearing that somehow made me lose that troubling thought of Ilia completely.

"Nah, you just didn't know there were a bunch of other girls outside your village is all. So...you don't like Ilia anymore?"

"I don't think so. Now that I've...realized that I have a ton of other options here in Castle Town I think I'll keep looking," he said. I nodded and flicked at my long blonde hair. "Okay good."

"Good?" He asked with a smirk.

"I mean! Like...good that you're opening yourself up to a wider market of girls...I don't know, haha let's get off this subject.

"Hmm whatever you say Kitty cat."

"Is that my new name now?"

"It is until you get that paint off your face," he said as we entered the part of Castle Town where the gigantic fountain was. I stopped and put my hand on my hip.

"Okay so what do I call you then?"

He grinned and clawed at me.

"Tiger! Roar!"

I'm just gonna say this...I didn't see that coming. But it was hilarious! I kneeled over and busted out laughing. I was literally crying from laughing so hard. When I was done I wiped a tear from my cheek and nodded my head towards one of the small restaurants near the grand fountain.

"Okay TIGER, why don't we get something to eat? I'm starving!" I told him with a groan. Before he could say anything his stomach growled as if on cue. I couldn't blame him or myself. It's been so long since he and I have actually had a real dinner. For the past few days we've had to settle with fruit like apples and oranges as well as nuts and vegetables. Sure, those are really healthy for you but who wants to eat healthy these days? I wish Link had cooked some of that soup he made the first time I met him. That was amazing!

"I'm apparently starving too," he said, rubbing his abdomen with a pitiful expression on his face. The two of us walked to the restaurant I had pointed out and were given outside seats in front of it. It gave a magnificent view of the town square and the weather was perfect. Handing us our menus, the waiter took out a pencil and notepad to take our order. Link and I had the same tastes so we both ordered the "Castle Town Special Soup of the Day"; which primarily consisted of lima beans, different types of vegetables, and meat.

Stew. It was just brunswick stew.

"Right away guys!"

The waiter took our menus and went back inside to give it to the chef. I watched him go before looking at Link. He did kind of look like a tiger so it only made sense that he would be called that. A handsome tiger at that...What!? I can say Link is attractive but not like him that way at the same time so piss off! Alright, I just told my mind to piss off, I've officially gone insane.

"Kitty cat?"

"What? Are we really doing that?" I asked the boy across the table from me after I strayed my focus away from my conflicting thoughts.

"Of course _Kitty cat_ ," he repeated teasingly. I smiled and sighed.

"Alright...When do you think our food will be ready _Tiger_?"

"I'm not sure but our waiter is headed this way with two bowls of soup so I would guess that our food will be ready in about five seconds."

What a smartass. Oh well, here comes food! As soon as the waiter set my bowl down I dug in. I didn't even care about how hot the damn thing was. I finished the soup in under a minute and was left panting for breath once I was done. Yeah, real lady-like Scarlett holy Hylia! Looking up at Link, he was leaning his chin on his palm and watching me with a satisfied countenance.

"You were hungry."

"Y-Yeah…" I murmured, blushing. "I'm so embarrassed…" I admitted.

"Why? You were hungry is all. Who cares how you eat?" He laughed, taking a spoonful of his soup and putting it into his mouth. When he was done swallowing that spoonful he continued, "you don't have to be embarrassed around me Kitty cat. I'm cool with pretty much anything so don't beat yourself up."

"Thanks Link…" I replied in relief, using his real name to show I appreciated it. He dropped his spoon and stood up from the table.

"Hey! That's Tiger to you!" He yelled angrily. We both ended up laughing as he sat back down. He really knows how to lighten the mood and I just admire that so much. It was only just one of his many awesome traits of course but still. It took him about five minutes to finish his soup; mainly because we were both talking to each other between each of his spoonfuls. Once he paid the waiter, we were back at the fountain in the middle of all the festival activity. Sitting down on the edge of the fountain, the blonde boy crossed his arms and looked at me.

"So what do you want to do now? You want to play some more games?"

I thought for a moment and shook my head.

"Nah, I had a lot of fun with what we've already done but I think we should get back on track in our journey. If that's cool with you I mean!" I quickly included. He seemed a bit surprised by my answer judging by his widened eyes.

"Oh, okay! Yeah, that's cool with me. Want Midna to hold the cat I won for you?" He asked me. I nodded and he called the twilight imp out from his shadow. Before he could tell her what he wanted her to do she held her tiny hand up to stop him and told him she already knew what he was going to say. She turned to me and took the plushie from my hands without a word before going back into his shadow. She did give a low growl though which I found extremely characteristic of her.

"So...What do we do now?" I asked, "we found all of the helmet pieces so what else is there to find?"

"I don't know...Midna?"

"Yes~"

Midna came back out of Link's shadow again and scratched the back of her head.

" _That's my bad. I meant to tell you guys back when you got your master swords but I guess I got sidetracked from seeing that twilight crystal. The one that can change you two back into wolves. Or...maybe it was because you cut me off and wanted to go to the festival so bad! Nonetheless, I WAS GOING to ask a favor from you guys. I know that I'm annoying sometimes but I really do appreciate everything you have done for me so far. I would be really grateful if you looked for the Mirror of Twilight as well. It's hidden somewhere in Hyrule. I just don't know where it is...It's our last potential link to Zant so we need to find it! Would you do that for me?"_ She asked kindly. Link and I nodded and we both smiled.

"Since you asked so nicely we'll look for it for you Midna," I said. She gave a deep sigh of relief and tightened her hand into a fist.

" _Thanks guys. You're the best! As to where the pieces are...Like I said they're hidden somewhere. Maybe you can ask somebody around here if they've heard any strange rumors about it. Telma possibly? She seems to know her way around so try asking her."_

She once again moved back into Link's shadow after telling us that, leaving us alone.

"Mirror of Twilight? That just spells 'dungeon' doesn't it?" The boy next to me asked with a smirk on his face. I bit my lip and nodded.

"Yeah, I just hope it's not somewhere terrible or filled with spiders. If it is I'm going to be clinging to you the whole time and then you won't be able to breathe and then you would die of suffocation and if you died than I would die because the spiders would get me or I would kill myself because I saw you die which I don't want to happen obviously! And-"

"Scarlett! Slow down!" He laughed, "It'll be fine! Together we make an unstoppable team and if there are spiders in the next dungeon I won't let them get near you so don't worry! What we should be worrying about is how loud Telma will be if she's in her bar right now. She might be the loudest person I know! These long ears are sensitive you know!" He yelled, tugging at his long elf-like ears.

"Right," I agreed, tugging on my own. Telma _is_ pretty loud…

Nonetheless, we made our way through the huge crowd of the festival and entered an alley that led to the woman's bar. The lights on the sign were on so she was probably in there now. How did she get back from Kakariko Village without getting attacked by all the monsters in Hyrule Field? Oh whatever, let's just pray that the next place we have to go isn't too bad. Walking down the stairs to the front door, Link laid his hand on the doorknob and looked at me with a pained look.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Hell no but I know we have to ask her about it. Ugh! Alright, here goes!" He yelled as he opened the door to Telma's bar. It was bright inside the building. Too bright. There were a few round tables in the bar along with the bar itself on the right side of the room. And what do you know! Telma was behind the counter cleaning a glass with a small cloth. When she saw us she grinned and set the glass down.

"Look who it is! How y'all doing!? Did you get whatever you were trying to get from that water temple or whatever? And what is on your faces!? You look like a couple of cats!"

We both nodded.

"Yes ma'am, but now we're trying to find something called the Mirror of Twilight. Would you happen to know anywhere that it could be?" Link asked her politely before his face flushed, "oh, and we just got back from the festival…"

She closed her eyes in thought but eventually shook her head.

"Hmm that makes sense, and no I can't think of anything that would be useful to you two. But, those guys might know a little something of what you're talking about. They're currently onto something right now over there. Go over there and speak to them."

We looked across the room of the bar and saw some people at a table in the back of the room. They had a giant map that covered the entire table and were examining it intensly. Perfect lead! Link turned back to Telma and gave her a bow.

"Thank you Telma, we'll go ask them about it."

"Anytime handsome. Say, before you do why don't you sit down at the bar and have a drink. Talk to me a little," she offered. Link froze up and I knew it was time for me to save the day. I grabbed his broad shoulder almost instantly and started pushing him towards the people staring at the map.

"Um, sorry but we're not old enough to drink. Link especially!" I blurted out. The woman's mouth fell open and it looked like she was going to follow us.

"But isn't he eighteen? He's of age," she said. I shook my head a little too hard and laughed nervously.

"No! No! He's seventeen! Underage! This boy is underage! Too young to drink! Yep! We'll talk to you later Telma! Thanks!" I said as we entered the room where the other people in the bar were and closed the door behind me. Link gave me a side hug as a way of thanks and whispered, "thanks for that."

"No prob," I whispered back. The people in the room looked up from the geographical chart and stood up from their chairs.

"Who are you? Do you want to join The Resistance!?" They asked a little too enthusiastically.

Okay, what is up with the people in this bar!? And what the hell is The Resistance!? And where the fucking Faron is that dang Mirror of Twilight!?

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Yep, I had major writer's block for this chapter too but I think it turned out okay. The next chapter will be the desert so be ready for that. And I told you this chapter wouldn't be the typical festival chapter! Okay it kind of was with Link winning the cat and everything but that doesn't matter! I really want to know what you guys think so please review or comment on the chapter! I worked hard on it so feedback is appreciated! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys later! P.S. I will not take as long to post the next chapter as I did this one. I was on vacation so that's really the main reason why so that's my bad guys!**


	20. Chapter 20: The Scorching Gerudo Desert

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! This will be the last chapter I will probably be able to finish before I move on to college and live on my own. I have two roommates but they're useless so I'm basically living alone lol. The apartment is so cool and it's fully furnished! I have to pay a lot but it's worth it. I will continue writing obviously so don't worry about that. We'll see how much free time I have but it will be okay. I hope you guys liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one too! Keep reviewing like you have been and tell me what you think about it! If you have any ideas or even drawings you want to do for the story let me know and I will promote them! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

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Ch. 20: The Scorching Gerudo Desert

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

"The resistance?" I asked them. Two of them nodded while the third one sat there at the table with his arms crossed. He must be having a bad day or something. That's what I usually do when I'm pissed about something. The two that nodded were now away from their map and in front of us. One was a man and one was a girl. The man was older than Link and I. He had wavy, short brown hair and glasses that made him look like a school professor. The girl was older than us by six or seven years I'd say. She had dark hair that she kept in two separate pony tails on each shoulder. It was pretty, but she needed to work on her bangs though. She was dressed completely in armor which surprised me seeing as how I'm like the only girl in this town that can actually fight.

"Yes, we are a group fighting for the freedom of Hyrule. Much like yourselves, we are trying to cleanse the land of these twilight monsters that have been popping up ever since they invaded. Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners!? I'm Shad! Judging by your clothing, you two must be Link and Scarlett. Telma has been blabbering non-stop about you guys ever since she made it back from Kakariko Village. A little bit too much about you Link but don't worry about that..." he whispered, giving glances to the woman at the bar every so often. Link held back a sigh and instead smiled.

"Y-Yeah, she can go on and on sometimes. But yeah, that's us."

"Wonderful! So are you here to join the resistance or..."

"Well actually," I butted in, "we're trying to find a Mirror of Twilight right now. We've been told by one of our 'special' friends that the mirror is one of the only remaining ways to defeat the leader of the twilight creatures, Zant. The only problem is...we really have no leads as to where the mirror is. So we were hoping that you guys would know something about that," I said to them with a hopeful expression. The girl clicked her tongue and nodded slightly. "I see. That makes sense. I'm glad somebody is trying to help Hyrule other than us. Sometimes it feels like we're the only ones trying these days. I'm Ashei if you care enough to learn my name," she told us.

She's kind of rude isn't she? No problem though. I can be a sarcastic bitch whenever I damn well feel like it as well.

"Nice to meet you," Link and I both said. We were both nervous at meeting new people so our voices sounded a little shaky at first but came through in full stride by the end of our sentence. Ashei nodded again and turned to the geographical map that covered the entirety of the table. It was a complete map of Hyrule with locations I didn't even know existed. I was never good at geography in school. The only reason I got an 'A' in the class was because the teacher was super laid back about everything. I think he smoked something before he came into the room everyday...

"As for the mirror you are talking about, I'm not sure but one of our members has been studying the desert in an attempt to find the source of the twilight creatures. We know that is unlikely but he believes the desert is a place of interest for something like that. You can go speak to him if you want to. His name is Auru and he will show you the way to the desert. He should be near Lake Hylia I believe. Is there just the one mirror?" She asked, looking back up at us from the map. Link shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "We don't know if there is just one or if the mirror is broken into pieces like the past item we had to find..."

"I see, well we will keep looking for locations that might fit the description while you guys go to the desert. There are two places we're looking at but we're not sure about them just yet."

"Thank you so much. You guys are a big help!" I said happily. Ashei gave a small smile and nodded while Shad blushed and started stuttering words I couldn't hear.

"It's no problem. We're all here to protect Hyrule and the people in it. I hope you two can find whatever you're looking for. Anything helps in this fight," She acknowledged. Her smile then grew a tiny bit wider and she crossed her arms. "But before you go...Why do you two have feline face paint on? Is that some sort of fashion sense?" She asked. Link and I shook our heads while laughing in embarrassment.

"Haha, no we just got here from the festival in town," we both said. She clicked her tongue again in understanding. She sat at the table and waved us off with that smile still on her face. So, with thanks given Link and I left the three people of the Resistance. Telma tried to get Link to sit down and talk to her again before we left while her cat watched us from its curled up position. When we made it outside Link shook his head and scowled. "I think that woman wants me Scarlett..."

I couldn't help but laugh behind my hand.

"Well...if you can't find a girl to marry then you can always come back here. It's always good to have a back-up."

"No...Just no," he muttered seriously as we walked outside of Castle Town. I smiled and followed him, deciding to let it go for now. That won't stop me from teasing him about it later! I do have to admit that it is kind of creepy and I feel sorry for him. Truth is, I shall always protect Link from the likes of...middle age woman who are very loud! Okay that's a stupid pledge but you get the idea. Back to our journey, we were on our way to Lake Hylia to find this "Auru" person. From past experience with dungeons and all that, I'd say the desert sounds like a pretty legitimate place to look next. Of course I've never been there before but there's bound to be some sort of temple or ruins there brewing with monsters. And where there's monsters there's something of value either to us or Zant. Either way, we need to get there first. Unless Zant put the item there...then we just have to go get it!

"Hey, do you want to turn into wolves so we get there faster?" Link asked me. I thought about it and looked around. It was a beautiful day today and the wind was softly blowing on us like a gentle breeze. It smelled like roses where we were and I felt relaxed. I looked back at him and shook my head. "No, I want to enjoy the outside some more. If that's okay with you I mean."

"Nah, it's cool. It's really nice out here," he said as another breeze hit our faces, making our hair sway back some. I put my hands behind my back and closed my eyes in comfort. They came open when my whole face twitched and started to itch suddenly. I glanced at Link and he had the same expression on his face as mine. I knew exactly what it was. Our face paint was starting to crack and irritate our skin. It felt like we had super glue on our faces!

"Link, when we get to the lake we're washing this paint off our faces," I laughed. He did the same and nodded in agreement. "Hell yeah we are. I liked being a tiger but I think I want to be a human again. Plus, I'm already a wolf so there's no room for a tiger!" He joked. I snickered and nodded. He had a point. It took us maybe an hour to reach the narrow valley that came just before Lake Hylia. Surprisingly, no bulblins had attacked us while we were in the field. That just made the day even more sweet! As for this valley, however, I wasn't sure that was going to be the case. Usually there were spiders as well as bulblins that roam the valley. I can handle the bulblins just fine but everyone knows I don't do spiders. They can literally just fuck off okay! Mind my language...within my head...

"So it takes maybe...I don't know...thirty minutes to get through this valley if you're just walking. Do you want to jog through it together? I know you love to run," Link said to me with a smirk. I beamed and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. "Sure! I haven't been able to as a human for a long time! As a wolf, yeah, but not as myself. Sounds like fun! Just as long as we don't make it a race because you would totally win."

He put his hands on his hips and kept his smirk.

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"Well for starters you're super athletic. And you're a boy and when it comes to competition guys like to get serious," I said with my arms crossed. He let out a short laugh and shook his head.

"That may be true but that doesn't mean I would win. I've never underestimated you and don't plan to anytime soon. Besides, you're the runner between us, not me. You would beat the crap out of me!" He yelled dramatically before falling to the ground in fake defeat. I giggled and held my hand out to pull him up and he took it. Once he was standing again, I turned to the valley and started jogging. "Whatever you say blondie, let's just jog together. If one of us gets tired we can just start walking again."

"Sounds good to me," he said back, catching up to me. And so we jogged through the valley. I know it might sound stupid but I've never "ran" with anyone before. I used to always just go by myself because it gave me time to think. Having Link running with me felt nice. I didn't feel so alone. Even though we were both out of breath we still talked the whole time; nothing important, just random stuff. About halfway through the valley we came up on a party of mountain spiders. They weren't as big as those spiders we saw back in the Forest Temple but they were still big. I gave Link one look and he knew he was on his own on this. I stepped behind him and peeked from behind his shoulder as he proceeded to take out a bomb from his bag. He then lit the string that was connected to it and threw it at the group of spiders conversing amongst each other. Link had a strong arm so he was able to throw the bomb all the way from where we were standing. I mean, yeah that was to be expected from his muscled biceps...No Scarlett! Don't be dirty! Pay attention to the bomb! I looked from Link's arm to the bomb and watched as it exploded right in the middle of all the spiders. Being the dumbasses that they were, they all ran towards the bomb when it landed near them so every single one of them blew up into a million pieces. Splashes of red and yellow hit the walls of the valley and all that was left on the ground were pieces of twitching legs. It was so gross...

"Why didn't I think of that?" I asked subconsciously. Link turned to me and frowned in that dramatic way of his.

"The fear of the spider was too strong to think about anything!" He yelled, clutching his heart. I rolled my eyes and pushed him playfully.

"Whatever! I do hate those things though. They're so disgusting! Why do they have to be so big!?"

"I don't know," Link said, "but they're all dead so it's okay now!" He grinned and motioned for me to began jogging again. "Onto our destination, milady," he said in a royal accent you would only find in Castle Town. I didn't have much of the accent but sometimes it came out without me even knowing it. Of course, Link would make fun of me for it. In return, I would make fun of the country accent he sometimes had when he said certain words. And every time I did, he would just blush and ignore me. You can't get more adorable than that.

"I can see the lake from here," he said in between breaths after the two of us ran for another ten minutes. He was right. Just around the corner was Lake Hylia. The pretty blue water sparkled with the sun's light and it made me thirsty just looking at it. Us jogging only increased that thirst. Another five minutes passed before we finally made it to the bank of the lake and took a well deserved drink. The water passed through my throat in the most satisfying way and it was so cold. I took a few deep breaths before drinking some more by cupping my hands and taking small sips. The lake was clean for the most part, thanks to the Zoras up the stream. We then scrubbed all the paint from our faces until we were back to our normal selves again. Man did it feel good to get that off! Once we were done Link wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sighed. "Wow, that hit the spot didn't it?"

"Yeah it did," I replied, doing the same with my hand, "now we just have to find Auru. Where do you think he would be? We don't even know what he looks like now that I think about it."

"True, but since he's a part of the Resistance he's probably dressed in armor I bet. Let's see...You look on the right side of the lake and I'll look on the left side past the bridge."

"Got it," I said as I stood up and started walking to the right of the lake. I stopped as soon as I started looking around and smiled. Near where the Lanayru spring was was a long watchtower for people to view the lake from high up. At the very top of it was a man that wasn't wearing armor but he was dressed like someone that would be in the Resistance. I would relate it to the clothing Shad was wearing back in the bar. Seeing the man, I turned to Link who was on the bridge by this time and I yelled to him, "Link!"

He stopped and turned his head towards me with a surprised look. I smiled and waved him to come back. He ran over to me and asked what was up and I pointed up at the man in the watchtower. "Ah, I see him now. Good eye Scarlett!" He complimented. I flicked my blonde hair in the most privileged way possible and then put my hand on my hip. "Naturally." Link narrowed his eyes and flicked my forehead. "You're so full of yourself," he said with a laugh. I gasped, rubbing my forehead but ended up joining him in the laughter. If people only knew just how childish we really were.

"Come on, let's go up there," he said when we were finished laughing.

"Okay," I said before we crossed the bridge and made our way over to the tall watchtower looking over the lake. Weirdly enough, the only way to get to the watchtower was by hopping along a chain of small portions of land. It was most likely a single pathway but then the land became soft somehow and parts of it collapsed in the lake. That's my theory anyway. Link and I followed each part carefully so we wouldn't fall into the water before stopping on one particular part of the long set of disconnected islands. The reason we stopped was because this island had a howling stone on it! It's a good thing we found it!

"Oh shit..." Link muttered. I looked at him.

"What?"

"I have to sing..." He muttered again. I chortled and shook my head. "Oh come on, you're not that bad," I told him, putting my hand on his arm in comfort. He looked at me with his entire face red and a frown on his face. He really hated to sing! "Awww come on," I encouraged him with a hug. That seemed to do the trick because he was smiling when I pulled away. "Alright..." he trailed off hesitantly.

"Good!" I told him, turning to the stone. Like the past ones, the stone was giving off a sequence of notes that it wanted us to repeat. It wasn't a hard sequence to memorise so I just started to sing. Link reluctantly followed my example and we sung the few notes the stone was humming. Though the boy beside me's voice was rough he was definitely getting better. At a couple of points in the singing his voice came out smooth like mine so that was definitely a start. After a few seconds Midna came out of Link's shadow and tapped the map in her hands.

 _"Okay guys the wolf is on the map so you're good to go."_

"Thanks," we both said to her as she went back into her little shadow home. What does she do in Link's shadow all day anyway? While we're fighting monsters and risking our lives what is she doing? Playing cards by herself or just watching us fight enemies in amusement. Whatever it is, it sounds like something she would do. Shaking my head from the thought, I turned to Link and grinned. "That was way better! You're improving!"

"Really?" He asked in uncertainty.

"Really," I repeated, smiling. He nodded and almost looked relieved that he wasn't as bad a singer as he thought he was. The only thing left for us to do now was to reach the watchtower. Luckily for us, it was just a few more jumps and leaps through the pieces of land to get there. We climbed the ladder that led to the top of the tower and found the man staring out into the lake. He spoke like he saw us coming before we had the chance to introduce ourselves. Weird much?

"You two must be Link and Scarlett, yes? Telma has told me a lot about you. I've been expecting you."

How did he freaking know!? How long has he been waiting on this stupid watchtower!?

"Uh Yeah...You're Auru?" Link asked. The man nodded and turned to us. He was much older than Shad or Ashei. That was for sure. That might have possibly been the reason he knew we were coming. Old people have this sense for stuff that I've never really got. I don't know, old people freak me out.

"Awesome, it's a good thing we found you. See, we've been looking for this item called the Mirror of Twilight. It's really the only thing now that can fight against Zant so we kind of need it. We talked to Ashei about it and she told us to come ask you about it. Something about the desert?"

"Yes that's right," Auru said while looking over one of the mountains that towered over Lake Hylia, "I have been studying the Gerudo Desert for quite some time. It really is just beautiful. However, I've noticed a disturbance there recently. Can you see it over there?" He pointed towards where he was looking and we saw six large structures that formed a circle shape in the distance. They had the royal family emblem on top of them so the structure was obviously an important one. Auru continued, "The Gerudo Desert once held a prison where the worst criminals in all of Hyrule were sent to. The criminals who were sentenced to death were sent to the underworld immediately by a cursed mirror that was kept inside the prison. Sounds like the mirror you're looking for. However, the prison is now condemned and the path leading to the desert is impassable. It is a shame because the mirror is still inside the prison along with the souls of the dead who were chained up there. Now I cannot be certain on this but I believe that that mirror is the Mirror of Twilight. Wouldn't you agree?"

Link and I nodded.

"...Exactly. I've been concerned so I've spent most of my time observing the desert and its activity. I assume Shad and Ashei had no idea what you were talking about? Please forgive them, I haven't been back at the bar for quite some time. The only reason I was able to talk to Telma was because I met her in the field on her way back from Kakariko Village. It doesn't matter though. Those two are studying regions of their own. Ashei has been interested in the Snowpeak area of Hyrule beyond the Zora Domain while Shad has been fascinated by this Land of Sky. But anyway, what will you do now?" He asked. Link smiled and crossed his arms.

"Go to the desert of course! The only problem is getting there right?"

"So you do plan on going there! Yes I can help you out in that department. Speak to a man named Fyer down in Lake Hylia. He runs that tiny amusement park. Give him this." Auru handed Link a piece of paper with his signature on it. That reminded me of when we would have to have a parent's note at school to get permission for a certain something. Ugh, those were the days.

"Long story short, I saved Fyers life and he owes me. He'll know what to do. Good luck."

Auru turned back to the view of the structure over in the desert and not another word was said to either of us. Link tucked the piece of paper in his pocket and grinned at me in satisfaction and excitement. His hobby in adventuring was crystal clear. He was really excited about going to a new place! I was too though so this was becoming pretty fun! We both slowly, and carefully, climbed down the watchtower and travelled over to Fyer's amusement park. There was no need for us to look for it. You really can't miss it. It's a huge random colored cannon accompanied by large man-made islands with prizes on them. It was a pitiful excuse for an amusement park, but this was probably the guy's livelihood so it would be rude to insult him about it. I'm a nice person okay! I'm not a bitch! At the cannon, the man himself was dozing off it looked like. Business wasn't "booming" today so he looked extremely bored. Link and I walked up to him and he snapped out of his daze fast.

"Welcome! Welcome to Fyer's cannon! Would you like to play my game today!?"

Link laughed and shook both his hands.

"N-No sir, we came for something different. We have this paper that Auru gave us," he said, taking out the paper. At the sound of the Auru's name, Fyer's eyes widened as Link handed him the paper. He scanned it and then nodded.

"Alright get in the cannon."

"Wait what?" Link asked before Fyer took his arm and literally threw him in the giant cannon. He was stronger than he looked! But that doesn't matter because what was he doing throwing Link in a cannon!?

"Hey! What are you doing!?" I asked him as he started turning a lever on the side of the mounted gun.

"You'll see," he said back to me, turning the lever faster and faster. The cannon could be heard charging up by this loud buzzing noise before it suddenly jumped up and exploded with a cloud of smoke coming out the back of it. That was when I saw Link shoot out of it with a terrified look on his face.

"Scarlett!" he screamed as he flew high in the air and over the mountain in the direction of the desert. Okay, that made sense but Fyer could've told us what he was about to do. "That's fucked up," I muttered as Fyer started towards me. I backed up and brushed my hands away from his. "...I can get in there myself. I'm a lady!" I stated firmly. He shrugged and walked over to the lever while I jumped into the cannon and waited for my body to be propelled over a damn mountain into the Gerudo Desert.

Dear Hylia, please save me.

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 **(Link's POV)**

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

I flew through the air like an actual cannon ball but I was screaming like a little girl. First I basically got molested by an older man who I just met. Second, that man threw me into a cannon and shot me off! If he touches Scarlett I swear to the Gods I will abandon this hero crap for an hour and beat the crap out of him. I might not get to do that though since I just might die in a few seconds! I was flipping and turning mid-air and I was getting higher and higher. I even passed the mountain! That's how high I freaking was! I closed my eyes tightly as I passed through the small cloud hovering over the mountain, and when I opened them back up I saw sand. Just sand. That's when I realized why I was shot out of that cannon. Auru said something about the path to the desert being impassable so the only way to get there was over the mountain! Gah, don't you think this is a little dangerous though!? I better survive the landing! Oh no, I'm falling now…

"Ohhhhhhhh shhhhhhiiiiiititttttttt!" I screamed again, hitting the sand hard. I grunted in slight pain but found that I was totally fine. The sand was very soft like a pillow and was warm due to the burning sun overhead. I knew it would get blistering hot as the day went on, especially with all the clothes and armor Scarlett and I wear. Speaking of Scarlett, I could currently hear her high-pitched scream all the way from the top of the mountain. I tilted my head up to see her familiar green-colored outfit flailing around the teenage girl. She began to fall after a few seconds and her combat short skirt flew upwards, revealing her panties. My mouth fell open and my eyes must've looked huge. She was wearing lace panties that matched her outfit and all I have to say is...hot damn. My prayers have been heard. It only lasted for a couple seconds but wow. Don't even question my inner thoughts because I'm a teenage guy and I can think whatever I want! As long as I don't say anything it'll be okay…

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Scarlett hit the sand just as hard as I did and laid there staring up at the sky. I ran to her and crouched down.

"Are you okay Scarlett?" I asked, my voice coming out weak due to the heroic sexiness I had just witnessed.

"Yeah," she whispered back as she sat up. "...Owwww…" she whined, rubbing the back of her thigh before standing up. Fixing her blonde beautiful hair, she gave me a concerned look and asked, "are you?"

"Yeah!" I answered her a little too loudly. Damn myself! Luckily she didn't seem to care. She told me she was glad and wiped the sand off her green skirt. She whined again about sand getting everywhere but stopped when she realized something. She stomped her foot hard into the ground and frowned. "That son of a whore! Throwing you in the cannon like that without even telling us what he was doing! What a jerk!" She yelled angrily. She was referring to Fyer. At the mention of him I grew slightly worried. "I know, but did he do the same thing to you? I mean...did he touch you like he did me? Because if he did I'll-"

"No. I stood my ground and told him I would get in the cannon myself. And I love how you're so protective over me," she said with a cute laugh and reddened cheeks. I rubbed the back of my head and smiled. 'Well you _are_ my partner."

"And best friend," she added, giving me a hug. I smiled even more as she pulled away and smiled back. Like I've said before, she always knew how to make me happier. Her touch always made my heart quicken and her face always made me smile. I don't think anybody else has that special power; possibly Epona but she's a horse and that doesn't count.

"So where do we go from here?" She asked. Midna came out with the map in her hands and pointed at the six tall towers we saw from the watchtower with Auru. " _It looks like you guys will just need to head north from here. We're now in the South Gerudo Desert so we need to reach the northern part of it where those things are. Think of them as a beacon for where you need to go,"_ She advised us before going back into my shadow. Scarlett and I nodded and started walking. You know how I said it was going to get hot? Well that was an understatement...BECAUSE IT'S SCORCHING OUT HERE! We had only walked a couple of minutes and I was already beginning to sweat. I silently cursed under my breath once I saw that the only clouds in the sky were everywhere except in front of the sun! Shit! This is what I get. I get to see Scarlett's panties but will die of heat stroke because of it!

"Here."

Scarlett handed me her canteen filled with cool spring water and smiled.

"...You look like you're about to die."

She's an angel! I took the canteen gladly and drank a quarter of it. The water ran down my dry throat like a heavenly river and I just had to grin when I was finished. I gave it back to her and she took a couple of conservative sips, screwing the cap back on when she was done. "I don't blame you. It's really hot out here but if it wasn't it wouldn't be a desert now would it? I think we're crossing into the northern Gerudo Desert though so we're almost there I guess," she said, looking at her own map and scoping the area around her. We had just made it up a large sanded hill and could now see an array of bulblin camps at the bottom of the other side of the hill. Why did we always have to deal with these guys? They are so freaking annoying!

"Again with these things!?" Scarlett yelled out in anger.

"Right!?" I agreed, shaking my head in disbelief.

"They must be monsters sent here by Zant. Lured would be a better word since they don't look like those dark twilight monsters that attacked us while we were wolves. If you think about it...it kind of looks like they're guarding something. A Mirror of Twilight obviously! Do you think we could sneak past them Link?" She asked me. My eyes scanned the area around it and it did not look like we could make it through the camps without killing at least a group of them. This was going to suck for sure. "No I don't think so. We'll have to kill some of them but we need to do it silently. There's too many to just slip by. If what you said was true the mirror looks to be more important than even the helmet pieces because there's a dungeon past all of the camps. What is the Mirror of Twilight anyway Midna? We kind of just said we were going to look for it without even asking what it is. That tells how much fun we have together," I said sarcastically; for the most part anyway because I love these girls. Midna came out of my shadow and rolled her yellowish-colored eyes.

" _You like being with us, don't even lie. And about the mirror...it's a little complicated. There's a reason I didn't tell you before when I asked you to look for it. The mirror is a direct pathway to the Twilight Realm and...I might as well tell you guys this since I have to eventually but do you remember when the Lanayru spirit made you see that awful vision and it explained how people fought each other for the triforce, fused shadow, and such?"_

I nodded, remembering the vision with a frown.

" _Well, the Goddesses banished all of those people to what is now called the Twilight Realm. There was no way to get back to the Light Realm so after some time people just referred to the new land as that. The story has been passed down through generations, and the only reason why I know it is because...I'm a descendent of those people that were banished...Do you hate me now?"_ She asked. What? Why would we hate her for something like that? Scarlett shook her head next to me and smiled, "Midna, why would we hate you for that? I always figured you were from the Twilight Realm anyway."

Midna stared at her for a few seconds and then bowed her head.

"You mean I didn't have to feel bad about not telling you guys all that time!?"

"Haha no, but I do want to know how you got here if there was no way for your people to make it back to our world," I said. She lifted her head and continued her story, " _Oh that. It wasn't by the mirror, it was by Zant. When Zant rose to power he turned all the twili people into those disgusting shadow beasts and somehow I was sent here. I'm still trying to figure that part out but what I do know is that Zant had a power that was unknown to any of us. It was as if someone gave it to him...But anyway, the mirror is the only link between the light world and the Twilight Realm so you guys will still help me get it right?"_ She asked, as if we'd say no.

"Like we said before, of course we will. We're a team," I said with a grin. She grinned back at me and then went back into my shadow without another word. I looked at Scarlett and she was smiling too. We all loved each other and made a great team. It's moments like this that really make me cherish my time with them. Hopefully it can last a lot longer than just this journey. And with this journey, we had to keep moving. We travelled towards the bulblin camps but we weren't careful about it in any shape or form. The distance between us was still pretty big so there was no need to be hidden. The sun, however, didn't give a flying master sword as to where we were because it was still hot! These clothes weren't helping at all...Taking my shirt off will probably be okay. Gripping the bottom ends of my green tunic I lifted it off and over my head with a sigh.

"Much better."

"What did you s-...H-Huh!?" Scarlett gasped, seeing me tying my tunic around my waist. I glanced at her and shrugged.

"You don't mind do you? I got really hot."

Her face went really red and her green irises looked me up and down for a second before she looked away forcefully.

"It's f-fine with me! Take your shirt off and show off your awesome...I mean...nevermind! It's hot so I understand!" She stomped her foot. I chuckled and stretched my back out. "Awesome what?"

"Nothing!" She let out while covering her face up. Whether her face was red from the hot sun or from me being shirtless, she was no doubt the cutest thing I've ever seen. Even I was blushing from her blushing! It wasn't like it was hard to blush around her anyway. Just look at her!

"I-I...hope you can fight without your tunic on because we need to take some of these guys out," she said softly, looking me up and down again before looking back at the camp. I'm not going to be overconfident or ecotistic about it but I'm pretty sure she's checking me out. But I'll stay skeptical. As for her question, my tunic being off shouldn't affect how I fight hopefully. It's wrapped around my waist so it might slow me down if I was running. I answered, "I'll be fine. I got you to back me up." She smiled brightly and took her bow and arrow out.

"Alright then, let's get this started."

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 **And that is the end of the chapter! I know! I know! I'm late! I'm fucking late as hell! I know this! I had to move in and kind of put this off but I will try to get back on schedule! Hopefully...But I hope you guys liked this chapter. The next chapter will be the next dungeon in the game which is the Arbiter's Grounds I believe. That'll be fun! I think it would be funny if Scarlett also took her shirt off as well and then they were both a blushing mess but I have the entire rest of the story to do something like that! Anyways, please review or comment and tell me what you think of the story so far! If you have any ideas, feel free to put them in a review or message me directly! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time!**


	21. Chapter 21: The Arbiter's Grounds

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter of this! I'm now getting comfortable with my college classes and my new apartment. My roommates, however, still need work. I know them and we're friends and all but one of them is a douche and a fatass when it comes to eating everything in the pantry...so I'm kind of running out of money but that's okay! I can just find another job so I can actually survive in this cruel world of ours! You guys know how it is so I don't think I need to go into any further detail. As for this chapter, it's another dungeon chapter so that might be the reason why it took so long to make. These are usually pretty long because I add in so much detail to it. Please review or comment on the chapter! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 21: The Arbiter's Grounds

 **(Link's POV)**

Scarlett and I both had our bows out as we crouched low to the ground and ran towards the bulblins. There were a few walking around in the hot sand of the desert, but most were standing on the top of wooden watchtowers. It was a good vantage point; however, unfortunately for them the wooden towers were so far apart from each other that if you attacked one others would probably not hear it if you were quiet enough. I'm not at all surprised by this. Every single bulblin is a dumbass in their own special way. It's actually pretty funny.

"I got this one," Scarlett whispered to me quietly. I nodded and she drew back her string with an arrow attached to it slowly. She then let the string go and the arrow pierced the bulblin right in his chest. He waddled in place for a bit and then fell backwards to where half of his body hung off the edge of the watchtower. The club he was holding, which apparently was on fire as well, fell from his hand and smacked the sand a couple of times before going limp. Amazingly, the fire was still lit on the wooden club and it sat there calmly in front of us. I grinned and gave Scarlett a silent high five.

"Nice shot!"

"Thanks, you can get the next one."

"Alright, sounds good to me," I said, looking at the numerous watch towers in front of me. By numerous, I mean like ten or fifteen; each one having one or two bublins on them. That was kind of a lot for just Scarlett and I. You know how you get that feeling where you were super excited to do something and then when you're finally about to do it you're just like "meh, whatever". Well that was me right now. I got this exhausted heated feeling all over my body and could feel a headache coming. Scarlett must have noticed because she tapped me on my bare shoulder.

"You okay Link?" She asked. I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it's just I really want to enter the prison now I guess without spending too much time on these little bastards."

"I agree, but how can we get through them quickly without risking our lives?" she asked with a small chuckle. I looked out at the watchtowers for a second with the lit fire emitting from the club in the lower left corner of my eye. I turned my eyes to the club and suddenly had an idea pop into my head. It was genius and I was fifty percent sure that it would work. That was good enough for me!

"Judging by that grin on your face, you have a plan," Scarlett said with a grin of her own.

"Hell yeah I do. You see that lit club that bulblin you killed dropped? Well let's see if I can do this…" I walked carefully over to the club and brought out an arrow. I lowered the tip of the arrow to the fire of the club and the end of it became engulfed in a fiery red that looked magnificent and deadly. I glanced at Scarlett to see her reaction and she was shaking her head with a big smile on her face. I hope she's impressed with what I'm about to do!

"Here goes nothing."

I brought the arrow back on my bow and aimed for a group of four bulblins who were standing in a circle conversing amongst each other. What do bulblins even talk to each other about? Whatever, that doesn't matter. They're about to burn to death. I shot the arrow, and thanks to my aim the arrow landed on one of them and in turn caused all four to burst into flames from being so close to that one unlucky bulblin. I guess they're all unlucky now...I watched with a smirk as they did exactly what I thought they would do in this situation; run around like idiots screaming and hollering. They were all so busy with the flames burning through their skin that they didn't realize that they had run into one of the watchtowers in the camp. Being wooden, the watchtowers either lit up completely or collapsed from the bottom being burned away. Nonetheless, the bulblins who were on top of the watchtower died from the incident. It started with a couple of the watchtowers burning down and then multiplied to every single one burning to the ground! My plan worked and I can't freaking believe it! That was way too easy. Scarlett ran over to me and was still shaking her head.

"I can't believe that fucking worked. You are the luckiest man alive."

I laughed and took out my sword while putting my bow away.

"Maybe so, but there are still three bulblins who are at the camp furthest away from us. They're now currently running at us in anger."

Scarlett looked ahead of us to see the three idiots making their way over to us on giant warthogs. They were the last three bulblins in the area so this wouldn't be a problem. With Scarlett here with me, I didn't even worry. You want to know why? Because as soon as she drew one of her arrows I knew she would shoot all three bulblins off their warthogs before they even reached us. It turns out...she did just that. Man, she's such a badass!

"Haha, nice try. GG bitch," she said after shooting the last one. With no rider, the warthogs stopped in their place, not knowing what to do or where to go.

"GG?" I asked her. She turned to me and giggled.

"Oh right, you're not from Castle Town. It's slang basically. It means 'good game'. You say that to someone who just got their ass whooped by you," she laughed. I nodded and laughed too because it made sense. I think I'll start using that from now on. "Alright well, aside from the new word I just learned, I think we should ride those warthogs through those wooden gates in front of the prison. I bet they could break through it easily with their tusks. Want to give it a try?"

She shrugged and wiped some sweat that had fallen down her cheek.

"Why not. Everything else you've done so far has worked," she concluded.

"Awesome, now all we have to worry about is the hog itself. If I get kicked or attacked by this thing we're having bacon for dinner tonight," I said, moving towards one of the hogs. It had red eyes, which looked extremely menacing, but the hog warmed up to me when I got within touching distance and patted his neck.

"You probably hated those stupid bulblins didn't you?"

The warthog made a grunting noise and leaned into my hand. Scarlett petted the animal and smiled at me, "you're pretty good with animals Link. Like, I'm actually surprised that you got this warthog to warm up to you. A horse, yeah, but a pig!?" She exclaimed.

"I _did_ grow up in the country."

"Oh yeah…" she muttered in thought, "I forget sometimes," she giggled. She looked uncertain for a second before she jumped up and got on the hog's back. My eyes widened in surprise until I saw her hand in front of me. She motioned for me to come up with her with a proud look on her face. I think even she was surprised she got on the hog's back without my help. But from my angle and her elevation, she looked like a goddess with the sun shining behind her. It created a heavenly aura that forced me to take her hand without thinking. I was pulled up in front of her on the saddle of the hog. On the saddle, we had a clear view of the wooden fences in front of us. They were straight ahead and built right after each other so whoever designed that was a real genius. I turned my head to glance at Scarlett and she gave me a questioning look.

"Hm?" She hummed.

"Nothing, it's just I have a feeling that I'm going to need to tell you to hold on tight."

"Oh...Yeah that's pretty much common sense to us by now," she retorted with a laugh. I smiled in agreement and then turned to the wooden fences. Lowering my head, I talked smoothly to the warthog while also petting its rough fur. "Alright buddy, we're going to need your help on this. Get us through those wooden fences up ahead okay?"

The hog just snorted so I figured he understood me; or at least he heard me talking. That works too. Scarlett wrapped her arms around my waist as I grabbed the reins of the hog and finally got us moving. And when I say moving, Scarlett and I were holding on for dear life as the hog screeched and sprinted forward at an unimaginable speed. I would have laughed in enjoyment if I didn't think I was about to break a bone from falling off this wild beast! The hog lowered its tusks at the first fence and obliterated it completely. Pieces of wooden debris flew past us as we ran through the second fence and then the third. I couldn't even say "holy shit" throughout this whole event because I was trying so hard to keep me and Scarlett from falling. After the fourth wall, the hog stopped and panted, out of breath.

"Are we dead?" Scarlett asked, her butt lowering from the air back onto the saddle again along with mine. I sat silently and combed my bangs with my fingers before responding, "Not yet."

"Good, let's get off this thing," she whined. She was the first to hop off, but she fell to the ground when she hit it. I made a low gasping sound when I saw her and jumped off the hog to see if she was okay. But as soon as I hit the ground, I knew why she fell. I was so dizzy from the ride that my sense was totally out of whack at this point. I, too, fell to my knees in confusion and we both had to just sit there until our senses realigned themselves. The whole process took about a minute.

"Wow, never again," she muttered, standing up finally.

"Note taken," I said, standing up as well. I patted the hog, telling him he did a good job, and then looked ahead at our next pathway. It was a hill that led up to the prison. Scarlett and I started up the hill, but stopped when we saw a golden wolf waiting for us on the path.

"Already?" Scarlett asked out loud after seeing the wolf. We had just seen Shade earlier today so it was weird seeing him twice in one day. The both of us walked up to him and found ourselves in the solid white environment Shade always put us in. I looked down and my tunic was back on my body. I guess Shade doesn't tolerate shirtless hidden skill lessons...Which hidden skill was this again? The fifth one?

" _It is good to see you two again,"_ Shade said. Scarlett put her hand on her hip, "You saw us just this morning Shade. You can't be that glad," she joked. Shade grunted and lightly shrugged his shoulders.

" _I am always glad to see your faces, no matter how long our last meeting was."_

Scarlett blushed from the praise and I smiled. Shade was so awesome and cool.

"Likewise," I said.

" _Thank you. Now, it is time to learn your fifth skill, Mortal Draw. This is excellent in that it catches the enemy by surprise every single time. First off, you must have your sword sheathed so that your enemy expects to you to be defenseless. When they get close enough, that is when you strike. You must quickly take a hold of your sword and strike the enemy before they have time to react. The skill is good in getting the first hit; however, it does leave you open for an enemy's attack. Be careful and time your strike right. For this skill, I will do something different. I want you two to use the skill on each other. Perform the skill at the same time and your sword will collide with each other, leaving the both of you unharmed,"_ he instructed. I looked at Scarlett with some uncertainty in my heart even though I knew we would perform the skill perfectly. There was just something about attacking Scarlett that rubbed me the wrong way. I would never ever want to hurt her, but everyone knows that by now. I don't think I have to explain my reasoning. Cough cough, because I love her, cough cough.

"Okay let's give it a shot," Scarlett said to me, flashing a cute grin at me. I returned it, leaving behind the doubt inside me. We walked close to each other so that we faced one another. We kept our sword in our sheaths as instructed. The skill was pretty simple this time so this would be a piece of cake. Scarlett and I stared into each other's bright eyes until we both decided to draw our swords. We managed to draw them at the same time and when we struck the sound of metal hitting metal sounded in my ear drums.

" _Good. You two are naturals. Though, I have said that in the past as well. You now have five skills under your belt. You have two more to go until you have mastered all of them. You should be proud,"_ Shade told us with a nod. Scarlett and I grinned again and performed a high five. That should be like a social hidden skill or something. Grinning.

"Are the last two skills badass?" I asked with a smug look on my face. Shade turned his back towards us and looked up at the white glowing sky. " _The hidden skills of Hyrule are ancient in origin and have been passed down from generation to generation. That adjective cannot even describe the power each skill possesses. But yes, they are badass."_

I had to laugh on that one.

" _I knew you would enjoy that answer...What about you Scarlett? Any questions…? Wait...I do believe I saw you this morning so it would be highly unlikely that you would have any for me this quick. Am I correct?"_

Scarlett shrugged and crossed her arms. "Pretty much. But YOU WILL give me the answer to those couple of questions you've been dodging ever since we met you," she demanded. Shade grunted, " _very well. Until then use the skills I have taught you to your utmost advantage and you will succeed in saving Hyrule. Farewell."_

The training environment faded and we were in the Gerudo desert once again. I was back to having my tunic wrapped around my waist and boy did I realize how hot it was before we learned that skill. The hot sun hit my bare skin as fast as Shade disappeared and I became light-headed from the instant heat and brightness of the light. My vision became dark and I staggered forward with a helpless sigh. Fortunately, Scarlett was there to keep me steady. She reached out and wrapped her arms around my chest to keep me from falling.

"Link! Are you okay?" She asked in worry. I looked up at her and her face was crimson in color. By this time, I regained my senses. It was similar to when you get up too fast. It sometimes makes you dizzy but you're okay after a few seconds.

"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry about that. I got dizzy from the sun for a second but I'm good."

"Okay good...and I'm really going to need you to put your tunic back on Link," she said shyly. I gave her a look before smiling. "What? Why? You can't handle the sight of my pecs?" I asked, flexing my chest and biceps. This was a bold move Link, but you said it so you gotta back it up! Scarlett brought her hand to her chest and stared at my chest before glancing away. "W-Well...Yeah…" She said quietly. I stopped and my eyes widened.

"Wait what? Really!?" I said excitedly. She looked back at me, this time more of a glare than a blush. "Yes! But I would say that to any guy who is shirtless in front of me! It would be the same if I took my top off in front of you. You would be a blushing mess! But it wouldn't be because of me. It would just be because I was a girl and had tits," she laughed. That made a lot of sense, but I really wish she would've said that she liked my muscles. Ugh! Why is impressing a girl so difficult!?

"Alright fine…" I muttered, unwrapping my tunic from my waist and slipping the green top back on. It was a bit warmer with it on but we were about to enter the prison so it was okay. Scarlett took the lead in walking forward until she stopped and smiled at me.

"And by the way, don't get ahead of yourself," she said with a wink and a laugh. She was obviously referring to my cocky decision to flex my muscles in front of her. My face dropped by that verbal burn and she laughed again at the expression on my face. At least she was happy...We walked forward for maybe half a mile until we could see the entire front of the abandoned prison we were about to enter. The sun was starting to go down so the sky was a bright red and orange. I didn't realize what time it was until I saw that. Should we make camp before we go in there? I asked Scarlett about it.

"Hmm...I'm not that tired to be honest. Are you?"

I shook my head.

"Nah, not really. Do you want to just enter the prison and get as far as we can before we rest?"

"Yeah, I think that sounds better. Besides, I'm too excited about going into a new dungeon to go to sleep!" She cheered. I smiled and nodded. That's the spirit Scarlett! With the newfound excitement inside us, we practically ran to the entrance in front of us. However, before we could get there a warthog crashed through a wooden fence that had led us to the entrance and blocked us from our destination. Scarlett and I jumped back and took our master swords out. I was ready for a fight before I saw who was on the warthog. Okay, remember that time when I saved Collin from that Bulblin king or whatever? And then I dueled him on the Eldin Bridge and knocked him off so that he fell to his death? Yeah...he's back apparently. I am now going to lose my shit over it.

"HOW THE HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?" I screamed at the monster.

"YEAH! WHAT HE SAID!" Scarlett yelled. Oh that's right, Scarlett was with me there too. She actually shot him off his hog with one of her arrows. Damn, how did I forget that? Must be heat stroke from this stupid desert.

"Klcblkcjnelkcnebvkebvkefv," the bulblin king replied, slobber dripping from his nasty mouth. That's...really disgusting...That's it! I'm killing this son of a bitch! I ran forward with a yell and slashed my sword at the bulblin leader until he screeched in pain. His purple blood splattered across my cheek but I kept going. He had had enough after I made a huge gash in his stomach and swung a massive axe-like sword at me. I had no idea he even had that! He must've been hiding it on the other side of the animal he was riding. In result, I was sent flying into a portion of the wooden fence that wasn't destroyed by the bulblin's warthog. Blood came flying from my mouth and my spine felt like it had twisted when I hit the fence. I fell to the ground on my hands, gasping for air with my eyes closed tightly.

"Link!" Scarlett screamed. She ran over to me and crouched down to my level. I peered at her through my hair and reassured her that I was okay, "I'm fine Scarlett...Be careful. That sword of his hits hard," I said, grunting in pain from talking. She nodded, gave me a small hug, and then stood back up to face the bastard who had just hit me.

"Think I'm going to attack you with my sword?" she mocked, "think again!"

She took out of her bow and arrows and once the bulblin saw that his red eyes widened in fear. And at that moment, he knew he fucked up. Scarlett started to shoot arrows at him and each one pierced through the fat of his skin. Purple blood poured everywhere and the sound of his cries was the only thing that could be heard for miles. After Scarlett's fifth arrow hit him, he decided that he should run away. He tossed his heavy sword aside and limped away without his warthog. What an idiot. I hope he dies a slow and painful death in the desert. Scarlett could've ended him, but she was too worried about me to give a shit about him.

"Link-..."

"Scarlett, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me," I said with a chuckle. I did my best to appear fine but she wasn't buying it. She had me drink a red potion to make all the pain I was feeling go away and then she gave me a hug that lasted about two minutes. I really liked that last part.

"You good now? You ready to enter the prison?" she asked. I nodded and we both stood up to look at the entrance. Two torches lit each side of the entrance and gave off a very _traditional_ feel to it. The design was unusual for a prison, but it was built a long time ago so I have no room to judge. The two of us walked inside carefully, in case there were any ancient traps, and looked around the first room once inside. After running down a long corridor, we came into a room that wasn't big but it had one thing in it that scared the shit out of me.

There was a sand hole in the middle of the floor! A sand hole meaning that if you were caught in it you would be drowned in sand and that would be "game over". That's on my top ten list of worst possible deaths. I'll read my list later, but right now we have to figure out how to get through this first room.

"Quicksand…" Scarlett muttered while staring at it. Midna came shooting out of my shadow when she heard that and looked intrigued by our new obstacle. " _Hmm interesting…"_ she said as she poked the sand, " _the sand is soft and solid at the same time. I'm willing to bet ten rupees that you can walk on this sand but not long before you start sinking so you guys better be quick if you're going to step on it. I don't want to have to get you out of that sinkhole!"_

She went back into my shadow, leaving Scarlett and I at least some knowledge on how to cross this room. Scarlett looked at me and then back at the sand on the floor. "You want to just run across the sand so that it won't have time to sink us?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, let's try it."

So that's what we did, making sure we stayed clear of the sandy sinkhole. It actually worked! Though, I could feel the warm sand slowly descend into the ground when I ran across it. On the other side of the room, we walked up a small ramp and came to a locked door. Our first one for this dungeon. Why couldn't everything be unlocked for once!? Why is it that we always have to find a key!?

"A locked door...Our greatest weakness…" I uttered in defeat. Scarlett giggled and pointed to our left and right.

"It's okay though because there's a door on each side of this room. The key has to be in one of them and if it isn't...Well then the locked door really will be our greatest weakness. You take the left and I'll take the right," she said. I watched her turn to the door on the right before moving to the left. There was no door, just an opening, so I could see a chest at the end of the small square-shaped room. I silently pumped my fist and walked over to the chest. Opening it, I took out a small silver key that was really dusty. It had a shitload of spiderweb on it too. Wiping it on the wall, I turned around and held the key in the air.

"Hey Scarlett, I got the k-..."

"Ahhh!" Scarlett screamed from the other door. I instantly dashed towards her direction without even thinking and saw that she was running towards me.

"Get them off! Get them off!" She yelled, motioning at her body. I looked down at her waist and thighs to see these leech-like creatures sticking to her. Aw hell no, I'm the only one who gets to touch her there! Well not yet...but if we get together then yeah! I grabbed each leech off her body as fast as I could and made sure they died as they left her body. I wasn't about to let them get away with this shit. Scarlett kept screaming and swinging her arms around until I took the last one off. I distinctly remember her saying she doesn't "do" insects at all; mainly spiders but still.

"Oh my gods, thank you…" She said in a whimpering tone. Her face showed clear disgust as she held her arms. She looked like she had the chills.

"Don't mention it. You alright?"

"Yeah, just some bugs. They just really scared the crap out of me. They were all slimy and cold it just caught me off guard is all. Did you find a key?" She asked, after shaking her head in another sign of dismay. I nodded and held up the key for her to see. That actually put a smile on her face.

"Good, let's keep on going before more of those leeches show up. Ugh…"

I handed her the key and she unlocked the door, giving us access to the second room in the dungeon. It was completely dark in here and it gave off a very creepy vibe. Even though it was dark I could make out two fire posts on the other side of the average-sized room so I started walking over there to light them. When I took my first step, the ground around us began to rumble and shadowy figures could be seen moving in the darkness surrounding us. I quickly ran to the fire posts, lit them, and then turned around to see an army of skeleton warriors moving at me and Scarlett. I have to admit, I was actually expecting this kind of shit in a room like this. The warriors were no trouble at all and we were soon in the next room. This room was much larger and it almost looked like the main lobby for the prison for when it was in operation. Again, it was dark. Scarlett stayed close to me, almost hand holding distance and I was loving it. Sure I was in constant danger and could die at any moment but that ain't got nothing on this beautiful girl next to me.

"I'm sticking close to you because this place is just terrifying," she laughed nervously. The triforce on the back of her hand glowed brightly when she said that and she glared at it.

"Oh shut up! Having the triforce of courage doesn't mean shit in some place like this," she yelled. I smiled and chuckled under my breath.

"It's cool. I don't blame you. I kind of feel the same way so you're protecting me as much as I'm protecting you. And it looks like we're both going to need that protecting because look," I said, pointing at four floating lanterns coming our way. They illuminated a haunting blue light and made this clacking sound like some invisible force was carrying them around. This _was_ an abandoned prison so it's like...a guaranteed chance there are ghosts in here. The blue lanterns hovered next to each other and then lit themselves with blue flames that had been burning on four fire posts in the gigantic room. The lanterns then floated towards us and circled around us like they were about to attack. Scarlett and I bunched close to each other and readied our swords, but the lanterns didn't attack us like we thought they would. Everything else has so you kind of just expect it now. Instead, they divided themselves up in different directions. All except one.

"What do we do with it?" Scarlett asked.

"I don't know," I replied. Midna came out to give us some more of her...insight once again once she saw we had no idea what to do.

" _Guys, I don't want to freak you out, but I'm just going to turn you back into wolves so you can see what I'm seeing right now. DO NOT piss on the floor out of fear! You'll piss off the prison ghosts or whatever."_

With the flick of the wrist, she used the twilight crystal we found back when we got our master swords and turned us into our wolf forms. The process took five seconds, but the bone-shifting thing felt slow and almost painful. As a dog, I shook my head to clear it and then looked up at the lantern to see a tall, disgusting ghost in front of us. I jumped back with a small yelp and Scarlett did the same. This thing was seriously gross and creepy. It screamed at us and swiped its arm at the both of us.

"Watch out!"

We jumped back just enough for the ghoul to miss before I lunged at it, teeth barred. I sunk my sharp canines into the ghoul's chest and bit hard into it. It sorta tasted like...a carpet. It sucked but it was better than those stupid insects. As I was biting, a red glowing object revealed itself to me. If I had to guess, it must be the ghost's heart. Naturally, I went for that instead and the ghost started screaming very loudly! Seriously, I have better hearing when I'm a wolf and this bastard was killing my ear drums! I ripped the object out of its chest and it went silent before disappearing. The object I had ripped out also disappeared with it. Midna turned Scarlett and I back into humans once we were safe again.

"That was pleasant," Scarlett muttered, rubbing her ears. I did the same as Midna tried to get our attention.

" _You'll have to hear that some more because look."_

The blue light the ghost had stolen inside its lantern flew like a ball back to the fire post from which it once sat. So when I killed the ghost the fire post became lit with its stolen fire again? Interesting…

" _The passage ahead is blocked until you restore all four fires back to their post. I think it would be best if you two split up."_

I looked at Scarlett and she looked at me.

"But why?" We both asked in unison. "We have time. Why can't we stick together?"

We were so used to each other that we felt weird being separated. Plus, who would ever want to leave Scarlett? She's freaking perfect! But that's just me and my heart being dumb I guess…

" _Actually, we don't have time. We need to defeat Zant and whatever forces that ally with him as soon as possible. It'll just be for a few minutes so what's the big deal? Don't tell me you two have become inseparable? Ugh, I'm turning you two into wolves so you can go after the three ghosts,"_ she told us. The girl next to me blushed and so did I before Midna turned us back into wolves.

Bones. Shifting. Again.

" _That's better. Now since you're better on your own as a wolf I'll go with Scarlett this time. Meet us back here in ten minutes okay?"_ Midna said to me, hopping on Scarlett's back. I nodded and watched them go in the opposite direction. They were following a scent the ghosts had left behind. It was very strong and smelled similar to rotten meat. That would make sense since they were dead. There was a trail behind me so I followed it with the sensitivity in my nose. The trail led me to the wall. There was a small chain on the ground but nothing else. So why not pull it!?

"Let's see if this works…"

I pulled the chain and the floor beneath me lowered into stairs. Typical. Walking down the stairs, I came into a circular room with a large revolving door in the middle of it. No, it wasn't revolving right now. You had to manually push it to make it move in case anyone was wondering. I wish I could turn into a human myself because pushing this will be much more difficult as a wolf.

"Damn it Midna...Holy crap what is that?"

Just before I could push the revolving door a coffin near the wall jumped towards me.

"Mmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Wow...A mummy...That's hilarious," I said to myself. The coffin jumped towards me again and then its door flew open. Inside was what I expected and it wanted to kill me. It's not the only thing that wants to do that to me.

Two seconds.

Literally two seconds.

It took me that amount of time to kill this thing and get on to moving the revolving door. The action caused a part of the wall to lift up and that led to another room. From here I could see a blue lantern.

There he is.

I ran at him and tackled the ghost to the floor with my powerful fangs. He never even saw me coming...even though he was waiting for me...whatever! I killed him quickly and his blue flame returned to its original post. That's two. Back to the main room it is! I know it's only been like five minutes, but I can't wait to see Scarlett again. Midna was right. We really ARE inseparable. I dashed back to the main room and started wagging my tail in seeing Scarlett and Midna returning as well.

"Hey! So did you find the ghosts?" I asked them.

"Yeah, just one. The other one came back here. I got him!" Scarlett told me, jumping towards a spot around the corner. That's probably why I didn't see the ghost when I came into the room. Nonetheless, the last blue flame returned to its post and the passage ahead was now open for us. That was a lot easier than what we've previously had to deal with.

" _Great job guys! Keep it up! Oh! And let me turn you back,"_ Midna said. She turned us back into humans and I finally had thumbs again. Sweet opposable thumbs. Scarlett tapped my shoulder with a big smile on her face.

"What's got you so excited?" I asked with a slight chuckle. She held up a map of the dungeon and smirked.

"I found this while Midna and I were trying to find that ghost. Here." She handed me the map and I took it gladly. After the last time in the Water Temple, she knew she couldn't be trusted with the map. I thought that was pretty funny and cute. Damn, I really need to stop thinking everything she does is cute. I'll start to get creepy if I keep doing it...Nah…

"Great job Scarlett! Let's see…The only way for us to go is forward through the passage we just opened so let's start there."

She narrowed her eyes at me and then threw her arms up.

"I could've figured that out!"

"Yeah, but who has the map now?"

"I just gave you it!"

"Exactly," I said with a smirk. She bowed her head in shame and we continued on to the next room. The room was, again, circular in shape with an oddly dented pattern in the center of the floor. The center was accompanied by large brown gears that you could see from the large cracks in the ground. There were also a couple of little skull monsters present, but we killed them like it was nothing. We both inspected the pattern in the floor and Scarlett crouched down to get a better look.

"It looks like layers of gears," she said, rubbing her hand across the rough, uneven edges. She looked up at me from her level, "What do you think these are for?"

I shrugged my shoulders and took a glance at the map again.

"I'm not sure but I bet we will find out as we go through the prison. When I was finding my ghost there was this revolving door I had to push to make a part of the wall lift up. That's what I would say it is, but there's no revolving door so it's possible that this is an entirely different thing. But anyway, our next room is this way." I pointed to the right side of the room instead of the left because there was just a chest on the left side. I have a feeling we'll be coming back to this room so we can get whatever's in the chest later. Walking into the room on the right, it allowed us a few steps before it just dropped off. I peeked over the edge and was glad to see that the floor wasn't far from us. Below was another revolving door in the center of the room so I knew what to do from here. I hopped down and then helped Scarlett so she wouldn't sprain an ankle jumping down as well.

"Thanks. Now you said we just need to push this for the next room to appear?" She asked, her hands on her hips. I nodded and referred back to the room I had gone through when looking for the ghost again. She understood me with a nod and began pushing the door around. This time, the floor even twisted around, causing us to stop pushing.

"Whoa, that's so weird," she said.

"Yeah, but it's leading us to another room," I laughed. We pushed some more until we were all the way at the bottom. There laid a door inside a broken piece of the wall and surprisingly it didn't need a key. So far, we've only used one key on this dungeon and in any other dungeon we usually use like five! I'm not complaining though. Finding keys is a pain in the ass.

Going into the next room, all I was anticipating was sand. Yes, there was some more sand, but also more zombies and more spikes! Wait spikes!? Whatever! The prison was getting much more difficult the deeper we went. Just judging by this room, I'd say Scarlett and I need to be really careful about our next move. I can't even imagine what the huge monster at the end of this will be like...Oh wait I do know...Just like everything else in this prison, it'll be a pain in the ass…

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

"Link is everything okay? You look kind of pissed?" I asked the boy next to me as we entered the next room. He shook his head at me and smiled.

"Nah, just a little irritated by this prison. It's giving me a serious headache and it's a real pain in the ass. I mean look at those spikes shooting up from the fucking ground over there!" He yelled. I looked at the spikes and they were definitely sharp enough to kill us in one go. I then looked back at link and smiled.

"Oh come on, we've gone through worst. As for your headache, I'll do to you what my mom always did for me."

"What's that?"

I kissed my index and middle finger and then touched his forehead with them gently. He gave a confused look and I giggled. "It's just something she used to do when I was a kid. It made me feel better and I liked to think her love was like a strong warrior fighting against my headache. It almost always went away after she did that," I told him. He brought his hand to his forehead and felt the spot where I had touched.

"Hmm, well how strong is your love for me?" He asked. My cheeks heated up from that but I don't think it was strong enough to notice. I opened my arms the widest I could get and grinned. "This strong!"

He dropped his hand and almost rolled his eyes. He didn't but I could tell he wanted to. He just smiled and started walking through the room. I followed after him and stayed close so that none of the spikes hit us. That wouldn't be good. Undead enemies lurked around us but could not attack because of said spikes. Kind of defeats the purpose of them being here huh? By the time we reached the other side, we were stopped by a dead end wall.

"It's not a dead end. There should be a chain around here somewhere," Link said, scanning around the area for one. I tilted my head and tapped my foot against the old fragile floor. "Did you learn this from chasing your ghost? Just like that revolving door?"

He gave me a look that said he did and I stomped my foot this time.

"What the hell! How come you have all of this puzzle, problem-solving shit with your ghost? My ghost just went into another room and I just had to walk up to him and kill him. The only thing I got out of that was the damn dungeon map! So unfair…"

"I'm sure the prison will get much more exciting for you," he joked, still looking around for a chain on the wall or floor. I have no idea what he's doing. Link does what Link wants to.

"Found it!" He cheered. He was a few feet away from me and was holding a chain with a handle on the end of it. The chain was connected to the wall and met the wall at the bottom of it. I asked Link what it would do and he answered by pulling it as hard as he could. The dead end barrier behind me moved into a slit in the wall and we were now able to pass through. However, it didn't last long because when Link let go of the chain the door started sliding back. I easily passed to the other side but Link had to run.

"Link, hurry!"

"I'm trying!" He answered. He had to dive through the wall to get to me before it closed shut again. He grunted as his palms hit the ground and he scraped both knees on the rough sand beneath us. It most likely felt like a carpet burn.

"You good?" I asked, helping him up. He nodded and took a deep breath.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good. There should be a door up here."

We walked through this hallway and he was right. There was a door on the right side and a chest on the left side with a couple of pots sitting beside it. The door was locked so the logical reasoning would be that the key is in the chest. That's freaking stupid…I walked over to it and yep! It was a key! I took the jars next and flipped them over just to see if any money was inside them. Sometimes that happens. Only this time it was much worse! An ugly, bald yellow chicken came flying out of it and looked at me with devilish red eyes.

"Finally free at last! My name is Ooccoo! And-"

"I know who you are! I threw you over a cliff back at the Lakebed Temple remember!? How are you here stuck in another pot!? And why do we keep finding you!? I should've asked Shade about this! Gods!"

I was currently going insane because of this disgusting creature in front of me. Link stood in the background laughing behind his hand. Ooccoo stared at me and smiled.

"I don't remember you doing that at all and the pot is my worst enemy. It is my main predator. Who is Shade?"

I slapped my hand against my forehead and pointed at the hallway from which we once came.

"Just get out of here. The exit is that way."

Ooccoo's face brightened up and she flapped her wings erratically.

"Well thank you! Who knows we might see each other in the next place you go to!" She said all enthusiastically. I brought my lips together and crossed my arms. "I hope that 'might' becomes a 'never'. But goodbye," I told her...him…? I have no idea. I didn't want to seem too mean. This thing just annoyed me in the same way the postman did. Although, his presence was more of a pedophilic aura rather than an annoying one. I don't even want to get into that.

"Okay then goodbye!" She said back to me, flapping her wings and hopping over to the hall. Link walked over to me with that laughing smile still on his face and we both watched Ooccoo about to leave.

"You know, she's not THAT bad," he said, nudging my arm. I sighed and brushed my hand through my long blonde hair.

"I...guess not...She's still ugly and disgusting though. She looks like a demon chicken back from the dead. Other than that, she has a nice personality!" I said, making us both chuckle. Ooccoo was still hopping through the hall and she was staying real close to the wall. That must be a defensive instinct of hers. She was just about to round the corner we had walked through, but as soon as she landed in front of this large gap in the wall a skeletal hand lashed out at her, grabbed her, and pulled her in. Link's mouth flew open with a gasp escaping his lips. I really had no reaction other than biting my lip.

"Well that was unfortunate," I said. Link looked at me and then glared at me. "You planned this didn't you?"

I gave him a look and brought my hand up.

"How could I have guessed she would be eaten by an undead monster? Don't worry I'm sure we'll see her in the next dungeon we go through. Now let's unlock that door."

I could tell Link was still looking at me in a suspicious way as I unlocked the door but he was going to get over it. No use fretting over Ooccoo. What was worth fretting over was this room! For real! There was this rotator in the middle of the room and on the rotator were two spikes logs that swung counter-clockwise! How does this thing keep moving!? I took a step back and grabbed Link's arm in the slight fear I was getting. The logs were swinging around the room quickly and if we weren't fast enough in crossing it we were dead. Link put his hand on mine and said, "don't worry, we're fast enough. All we need to do is sprint to the other side. You're great at running so this should be a piece of cake!"

I frowned but still felt happy that I had him to go through this with.

"You're not just saying that because you want me to go first is it?"

He chuckled and shook his head.

"No, we'll go together."

He got at the very edge of where the logs could hit you and bent his knee in a running position. I followed his example after seeing him do that and we both waited for the log to swing past us.

"Wait for it...Wait...Now!"

The log had just swung past us and we were now running right behind it. I got this feeling in my back that the other side of the log was right behind me so I panicked and ran even faster. Luckily, we both made it across the room, our bodies feeling the wind of the log that had been behind us swinging past our backs. We both took a few quick breaths until Link gave me a cocky grin. "See!? I told you we would make it!"

I smiled back and then rolled my eyes.

"Yeah yeah…"

"What would you do without me?" He asked as we stood in front of the next door.

"I don't know. I would be pretty lonely," I told him, putting my hand on the door. His bright blue eyes lit up for a split second and he nodded. "Yeah, me too…"

We both stared at each other for a moment before the thought of opening door crossed my mind again. I swallowed hard and opened it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Link lower his head and look at the ground. What was he thinking about? Boys were so...unique I guess I would put it. I can never tell what he's thinking. Then again, he probably can't tell what I'm thinking haha. What I'm thinking right now is that this room we just entered is totally dark and needs a candle or something. When my vision got used to the darkness I was able to make out a large sword sticking out of the floor. The sword was attached to four ropes that were bolted to the ground. I was very skeptical about approaching it but you know Link! He's not afraid of anything! He reached to touch the sword and when he did that the ropes around the sword bursted into flames and the sword lit up in a bright red light. There was no way this would be good. No way. The glowing sword shaked for a second before rising out of the ground and swinging at us. Link and I jumped back just in time but the sudden attack took my breath away.

"You just had to touch the sword didn't you!?"

"I never touched it I just reached for it!"

"Well to the sword, it's basically the same thing!" I yelled. Link wanted to say something, but he chose his battles and closed his mouth. Yes, he wasn't afraid of anything and he also wasn't stupid. Okay, I take that back I'm not about to start sounding like a bitch all the time.

"...It's okay though, let's just kill this thing!" I said to him. His frown turned into a smile as he nodded at me. In front of us, there was only a levitating sword so Midna had us turn into wolves again so we could see the ghost with our enhanced senses. I thought it would look like the ghosts that had the lanterns but it actually just looked like a hooded figure. It was a transparent white color but strong enough to still see.

"Arrrrrrghgghghhhhhhhh!" It screamed at us before slamming the sword down at us again. Link and I both leaped to the left and let the sword slam into the ground. The sword apparently got stuck because the figure had a hard time picking it back up. This was our time to strike. A flash of dark fur flew past me and I saw Link sink his teeth in the figure viciously. At the first sign of contact the figure transformed into its physical form. I almost shit my pants. I know I'm a dog! It's just a figure of speech! The real form of the figure was a long, dark undead man with a skull helmet on his head. His eyes, like Ooccoo, were a demon-like red.

" _I'm turning you back now!"_ Midna said quickly, turning us back into humans. The undead man screeched at us and started flying around the room. He was like a kite in the wind; so fast and agile. An idea came to me in seeing him do that and I looked over at Link to give him the plan. Basically, I was going to shoot the man with my arrows and when the man was stunned or hit the floor that was Link's cue to attack him with a flurry of sword slashes.

"Good idea," Link said, gripping the sword in his hand tighter. Despite the undead person's appearance, he wasn't that big of a challenge for us. It took me two arrows and five slashes from Link to destroy him, causing black dust to rise up to the ceiling and disappear. We both gave each other a high five and saw that there was a door on the other side of the room. Without the undead thing's presence, the light in the room became so much brighter. Link jumped up in the air and tightened both his hands into a fist. "Oh hell yeah! I bet you it's a new weapon! This is my favorite part of the dungeon!" He said. I laughed, "mine too. I think it's weird that every dungeon or place we go to is essentially the same thing. Go through it, kill monsters, get a new weapon, and then finally kill the big bad monster at the end. Does that sound weird to you?"

"Nope," he replied, running to the door to see if there was a chest on the other side. I shook my head with another laugh and followed him. There was, of course, a chest behind the door and it did not take long for Link to open the damn thing. I was pretty excited to see what was inside it as well…

"Whoa!" Link gasped in amazement, "what are these things?" He asked himself, taking out the two weapons that were inside. We both sat down to examine what the things actually were. Even Midna tried to figure it out. They looked like a spinner. That's probably what they were. They just looked ancient in design. What am I talking about? They WERE ancient! The question was...What do we use them for?

"I'm extremely confused," Link said, staring at one of the spinner.

" _Well we have some of these back in the Twilight Realm. Granted it's a lot more modernized, but back where I'm from people would hop on the spinner and the spinner would act as kind of like a bicycle I guess. As we've gone through the prison I've noticed a bunch of tracks on the ground and walls so I say we try riding those tracks. How do you turn it on?"_ Midna examined the spinner from all angles and hopped on the contraption with that tiny body of hers. The spinner immediately began to spin like a turbine and she was sent flying away from us.

"What the!?" I yelled.

" _One of you fucking help me!"_ Midna screamed over and over as the spinner swung her this way and that way. When she hit one of those tracks she was talking about the metal in the spinner connected with the tracks and followed them until they ended on the other side of the room. At the end of the tracks Midna fell off the spinner finally and it stopped spinning. We ran over to her and she was rubbing her temples.

" _I hate my life...That's it! I officially hate my life!"_

"Oh stop whining and get back in Link's shadow," I snapped.

" _Fine!"_ She returned to the boy's shadow, leaving us to deal with our newly-found spinners. I will just say that they looked pretty cool. I'm nervous about riding it but it could be fun. Link seemed excited about it but he was a guy and guys love this kind of stuff. I, however, am sort of a tomboy! So I like both boy and girl stuff! Muahahahahaha! But, you know, not in _that_ way. I'm 100% straight. Sorry, I felt the need to make myself clear.

"This thing is badass! Remember that room with the track pattern in the center of the floor? I know just what to do! Come on!" He grabbed his spinner, grabbed my spinner for me, and then took my hand to go back to one of the first rooms we had visited. The spinners were light weight, but the journey all the way back to the room Link was talking about was a bitch. He did have a great idea with the indented pattern in the floor though. The spinner fit inside it perfectly and he had the idea to make it spin while it was in the pattern to make something cool happen. He was just about to jump on the spinner when he realized something. I could tell by the look he had on his face.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," he said quickly, running back to the rooms we had just come from. I was curious as to why he did that, but I'll just let him get whatever he needs. I need a break anyway. Looking around, I saw that chest we had left in here so I decided to go see what was inside. It was just twenty rupees so it was no big deal. I sat down on the floor and leaned my face on my palm. I had not realized it until now but I was very sleepy. It was becoming night when we entered this place. There's no telling what time it is now. With the Lakebed Temple, time flew so fast when it only felt like an hour going through it. Here, I have no idea what it's like outside. My eyes started to droop and everything went black for a couple of seconds before I heard Link's voice.

"Sorry, that took so long I-...Oh…Scarlett?" I jumped up a little and he smiled a bit.

"Did I fall asleep?" I asked him. He nodded, "it looks like it. Were you tired?"

"Yeah, I hadn't realized it until I sat down. What did you go do?"

He hummed and reached his hand in his bag. "I don't know for sure, but I figured the big monster that's usually at the end of these dungeons is behind this wall or something. That's what I think will move when I start spinning this spinner anyway. But yeah! I had to get this big ass key because there's always a large locked door waiting for us at the end," he said, taking out said key. I tapped the side of my head with my hand for forgetting that.

"Where did you find it?"

His eyes went big and he shook his head in disbelief.

"You don't even want to know. Just know, you got like an hour of sleep. I was really worried about leaving you alone that long, but I knew you could handle yourself. Then I come to find out that you were just sleeping the whole time," he laughed. Oh Hylia, he was adorable. But I would never tell him that myself. He'd probably think I was weird for saying it.

"Now that we have the key let's get onto the boss."

Link jumped on the spinner that was implanted in the center of the floor and it started to spin. Just like Link had said, the wall in front of us that looked different from the rest of the walls rotated to the right, giving us a new pathway to explore. A secret passageway! Hell yeah! We walked inside and it was a humongous spiral setting with the majority of the room covered in tracks for the spinner to use. The spiral structure that was, like I said, lined with tracks led all the way up to a circular platform. Boy, this prison sure does have a fetish for circular shit…

"All we need to do is get up there. You ready?" Link asked me while getting on his spinner. I nodded and did the same, stepping on my own spinner carefully. I reached down and gripped the side of it so I wouldn't fall off. The spinner was soon spinning wildly under my feet and the feeling was exhilarating. It was a little bit like being on Epona. You felt so free and in control. It was easy to handle, believe it or not. Link and I made our way up the spiral structure in no time. When we hit the platform we got off our spinners and gave each other a look like "holy shit, that was cool."

"Hey look, another one," I said, pointing at the center of the platform. It looked like an exact copy of the pattern we just used to make the wall rotate. That meant there was only one option for us. The option to spin this bitch! I did it this time since Link got to do it the last time. As a result, a twisty rail rose up from the ground and rose all the way to the ceiling. That must be where the final door is. The two of us got on our spinners again and got on the rail which did in fact lead to what I had expected. Link took out the giant key that would unlock it and looked at me.

"You ready? Let's stick together on this okay?" Link said to me. His eyes told me he was serious and his voice was loud and clear. I could tell instantly that he would protect me at all costs. I don't know why. I just got that feeling from him. It made my heart beat faster with every passing second staring into those water blue eyes of his.

"Scarlett?"

"O-Oh! Yeah! We'll be okay Link. Don't worry."

He sighed and frowned.

"I hope so…" He said as he unlocked the giant door. The door lifted open into a never ending darkness that appeared extremely frightening. But we had to go in for Midna's sake. Plus, I always relax myself before a "boss" fight by thinking of that mysterious glass heart that appears after defeating the giant monster. The heart makes me feel all good inside and I feel stronger as well. So as long as I keep that in mind I'll always be good to go. Alright, enough of my thoughts. Let's face this monster once and for all. I entered the darkness first and Link was right behind me. It was initial blackness for a few seconds before we came upon a large dome. The whole ground consisted of a pit of sand with what looked like a skeleton at the bottom of it. I glanced at the boy next to me and we cautiously walked down to it. Up close, it was a skeleton of a...dinosaur-looking thing. I can't really describe it. I _can_ say that it wasn't getting up even though we're right in front of it now.

"Well? Is it going to move or what?" I asked out loud.

" _Oh, it'll move."_

What the? That sounded like...Next thing I knew, Zant was in front of us and Link and I were both on the floor out of shock of him being here. Link hurriedly crawled over to me and put his arm over my body as a second defense. The look on his face was one of pure repugnance.

" _...because I'll make it move. How are...you two still alive? No matter. Don't even answer that. I guess that's why they call you two 'heroes', am I right? Don't answer that either. I don't give a shit about your silly prophecies and what not. I will end you here. Oh what a bittersweet reunion this is. It will be the last time I get to see those idiotic blue eyes of yours trying to protect the chosen heroine. Look kid, it's just a title. As far as I'm concerned, she's just a stupid whore who got lucky enough to be chosen by your silly gods,"_ Zant laughed. Link's glare at him intensified and he tightened his fists. I felt Zant's words hit me hard, but I didn't care at this moment. I wanted this guy gone. Now. How dare he say that…

"How amusing. You two are so sensitive. You should be happy. You get to die together."

He formed a sword in his hand and then struck it in the skeleton monster's head. He gave us one last look with that eerie mask of his and laughed, "Oh happy day! Happy day!"

And then he was gone. He disappeared into thin air. Link was literally shaking from the anger he was feeling and I had to touch his arm to make him calm down. His body relaxed slightly at my gentle touch and he took his arm out from in front of me.

"I...fucking...hate...that...guy," he muttered to me.

"I know, I do too, but just think. We will have our chance to destroy him after we finish this thing off. That sword of his is starting to act like a lifesource for it." I pointed at the skeleton and when Link looked the lifeless eyes of the monster burned a bright red, signaling its re-birth into the world. The ground began to shake as it rose from the sand and screamed at us. Instead of a head, it had risen to a half-formed body. It had arms, ribs, and its spine which was holding it up in the sand. The words then appeared in the air in front of us.

 _ **Twilit Fossil: Stallord**_

This is our fourth place where those letters appeared so we're just going to go with it this time instead of freaking out. I mean, more unusual shit happens to us on a regular basis than this. It does give me a name for this skeletal beast though.

"You got a plan Link?" I asked him as we got up from the floor. He looked around at the tracks that covered the circumference of the room and then back at Stallord. He was particularly focused on what was holding the monster up in the sand.

"Let's start by attacking the spine. It should be damaged if we hit it with our spinners. You up for that?"

"Yeah," I replied with confidence. We both hopped on our spinners and headed down into the sand pit to hit Stallord's spine. He roared at us ferociously and swiped at us with his bony hand, but we were too fast. Link got to the spine first and when he rode his spinner up against it it cracked. Awesome, that meant the plan was working. I was next to hit him and this time the spine dissipated away, causing Stallord to fall on the remainder of his spine. HE WAS PISSED! He slammed his hands and arms in the sand over and over again until bodies started to pop up. They were freaking zombies I think! I could hear Link cursing from where I was and I tried hard to make my spinner go over to him.

"Okay, I'll distract the zombies...or whatever the hell they are...and you hit his spine again okay Scarlett!?" He yelled from across the room.

"Okay! Be careful!" I said to him, driving my spinner over to the tracks that lined the dome. The tracks gave the spinner better speed and velocity. With this, I could probably break another part of Stallord's spine with one hit. I don't want Link endangering himself for me for too long. I said I would protect him too and that's what I intend to do.

"Here I come you bastard!" I yelled, bouncing my spinner off the tracks and towards the pit. Stallord was too busy with trying to hit Link to see me and I managed to hit the spine directly without opposition. That was amazing! Even more so when Stallord had nothing left to support him. He fell backwards into the hot sand and those red eyes of his stopped glowing. The sand beneath us drained us lower once this happened until we were on solid ground again. It turns out that pit was just a lot of sand built up over the years. It really tells how old this prison is. But who cares!? Solid ground!

"That was epic Scarlett!" Link yelled happily, running over to me and hugging me. I blushed and hugged him back.

"I know! I actually had fun in that fight! Thanks for distracting him for me."

"Heh, don't mention it. I'm just glad it's over."

" _I wouldn't be so sure,"_ Midna appeared in front of us and tapped her fingers on her arms. " _That battle seemed just a little too easy don't you think?"_

I shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe we just got off easy this time."

Midna rolled her red-hued eyes and then narrowed them at me. " _Oh please. Like that ever happens. With your shit luck? Nope! But you could be right. The stupid monster hasn't gotten back up yet."_

"Let's hope it never does," said Link, "oh look, another one of those patterns."

In the floor beside the fallen Stallord, another indented pattern sat in the floor. That was a good thing right? That meant our way out of here.

"I'll spin it," I said. I got on my spinner and moved over to the pattern. While spinning into it, I had a thought. Wasn't a glass heart container supposed to appear or something. That's the thing I look forward to after these boss fights! Oh no, Midna might be right. As I was spinning, the ground under us lifted up as another platform. That could only mean one thing…

"Scarlett! Watch out!" Link yelled. I gasped and looked to see Stallord alive again. Before I could even react, it rushed towards me and hit me head on. I cried out in pain, feeling my bones ache from the hit. I heard Link yell my name again before I felt his chest against my back. I then felt the both of us falling. It was only for a second but it felt like a lifetime. Stallord had knocked us both off the platform. Hitting the ground was the worst part. I heard Link yelp as we hit it. He cushioned my fall but he took the force of both the ground and me at the same time. I panted and slowly got up from his chest.

"L-Link…" I said quietly. He was breathing so hard it made my heart ache. His mouth was bleeding so he must have coughed up some blood when we hit the ground. I tried to say his name again but he stopped me with a grin. How could he be smiling when he's hurt!?

"Well that hurt."

"W-What!? I know it did! Are you okay!?"

"I'll be alright. That's what I get for being so careless," he said, getting up on his arms and wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "...you were right Midna."

" _Naturally,"_ she replied with a smug smile on her face. I flipped her off and then proceeded to help Link up off the ground. Luckily, neither of us had broken bones. However, we would both be feeling this in the morning. Stallord apparently didn't care because he was moving towards us. We had reduced him down to just his head and it was levitating in the air. Nothing weird about that. I just want this thing dead!

"Ugh, this monster is getting on my nerves. Let's kill it and be done. You go to the left and I'll go to the right. We need to spin on the tracks along the walls and see if we can hit him with our spinners again!" Link told me, running to the right. I simply nodded and ran to the left. Stallord stopped in the air and it looked like he was deciding who to attack first. Ultimately, he chose the left side. Of course he would choose me...I sprinted to the wall and hopped on my spinner. I became attached to the tracks and was now slowly making my way up. Stallord followed me and shot fireballs at me while I scaled the wall. Wait what? Fireballs!? When did he learn that? If I don't move fast I'm going to get hit. I looked around and noticed that the platform we fell off of also had tracks running along it. Let's see if I can…

"Holy Hylia!"

I jumped from the wall to the platform and when I hit it my spinner became attached to the tracks on it. Phew! That was a close one. Nonetheless, Stallord was still on my ass with fireballs. I continued to jump from the wall to the platform, dodging each ball of fire by the skin of my teeth.

"Get away from her!"

Coming from the right, Link jumped from the wall to the platform where Stallord was shooting at me and hit his skeletal head as hard as he could. Stallord screeched and fell to the ground below while Link was able to jump back to the tracks on the wall. I looked back at him from where I was and waved.

"Nice hit!"

"Thanks! Now it's time to get some payback!" He called back to me. He jumped to the ground where Stallord was currently laying and took his sword out. He yelled as he attacked the sword on Stallord's head. The giant monster thrashed around but could not do anything about Link attacking him. I smiled seeing it. Link was so smart in these kinds of situations. The sword was what gave Stallord his life so destroying it was our main goal. I had totally forgotten that while I was dodging the fireballs he was hurling at me. That happens sometimes…

"Get out of here!" Link yelled with one last swing of the sword. He hit the sword on Stallord's head so hard that it flew out of his head and landed all the way up on the platform. How does that even happen?

"Holy crap! Good job Link!"

"Haha thanks! I didn't know I would hit him that hard," he said back to me as Stallord blew up into black dust. The sword on the platform also blew up into dust, leaving behind a shiny heart-shaped glass container. From where I was, I could see Link's blue eyes widen.

"Is that a heart container up there!?" He asked.

"Yeah!" I answered, finally reaching the platform on my spinner.

"Hell yeah! I'll be up there in just a sec!"

So Link also looked forward to the heart container. How could you not? It was freaking awesome! I waited patiently for him to spin his way up here and when he finally landed next to me I gave him another hug. He did such a good job in that fight and I felt so...proud to be his partner. Can you imagine if I had a wimp for a partner? That would be totally unmanly.

"I'm so impressed with you, you know that?"

His cheeks went red and he smiled.

"Really? We both did good, not just me."

"Yeah, but I can still be grateful to have you around. You want to break the container this time?"

"Sure."

He walked over to the heart container, picked it up, and then threw it to the ground. The glass shattered into a hundred tiny pieces and the red liquid inside surrounded the two of us in a fine mist. Our bodies absorbed the mist and the feeling was just...breathtaking. My body felt so refreshed and like the last time my breast size seemed a tad bigger now. I find that hilarious. Like, did the gods intend for that to happen with these mysterious heart containers? I just hope by the end of our journey I don't have like D-cups or anything! I don't need back pain for the rest of my life!

"Did your boobs get bigger again?" Link asked me, out of the blue. I gasped and covered my chest.

"W-What!? Why would...I mean...Of course they did!" I screamed at him. He smirked and nodded.

"Excellent."

"Shut up!" I punched him in the arm and he grunted.

"Alright! Alright! I was just joking! Geez…"

"Yeah sure…" I said sarcastically. I then had a thought. "Wait a minute, I have a question. If my breasts get bigger does that mean that your dick gets bigger?" I asked. I meant it more as a joke but Link looked like he was seriously thinking over it!

"Now that you say that I do feel bigger down there."

I face-palmed and sighed with a red face again.

"Please tell me you're joking…" I said. He looked over at me and blinked. "I'm actually serious haha! Now this! This is excellent!" He said with the pumping of his fist. "Although, it's not like I needed help in the first place," he commented with a smirk. I punched him again for that.

"Just be quiet," I scolded. He rubbed his arm, and trust me I made sure it hurt, but he still had a big smile on his face. Pshh, boys and their…pride…

" _Guys, I know you're happy about having bigger boobs and a bigger dick...but we should get going. I can sense that we're close to the Mirror of Twilight. It should be beyond that door that just opened,"_ Midna told us. Link and I looked over at the door that had opened and saw the outside. The moon was high in the sky so it was still nighttime. Good, we didn't lose a day. Link glanced at me and took a step forward.

"Well...Shall we go?" He asked me. I slowly smiled and nodded in excitement.

"Yeah!" I told him as we both finally left the inside of the prison and went back into the coolness of the night.

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! What a long ass one at that! I had a lot of writer's block for this and I apologize for that. I always waited until the last minute to work on it but it was longer than I expected it to be. I hope you guys liked it. I didn't describe the whole dungeon because I felt that that would get tedious so yeah! Please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you guys think so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time!**


	22. Chapter 22: The Fractured Mirror

**Hey guys! It is time for another story! We're a little over halfway so thanks for sticking with me for this long. School has not been that bad except for math, but I'm hoping it will go well. Do not take Precalculus Trigonometry in college when you get there. I'm good at calculus, but trigonometry can suck a big one. And why do we have freaking finals anyway!? Why do they account for like 35% of your grade!? That doesn't make sense! But anyway, please review or comment and tell me what you guys think of the story so far. Feel free to give me any suggestions in PM. Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 22: The Fractured Mirror

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

The desert at night was the complete opposite from what it was in the day. First of all, it was quiet except for the occasional wind that blew every so often. And second, it was actually kind of chilly out here; a lot more cooler than the hot, blazing sun that had beat down on us earlier today. I had read before that the desert was cold at night but I've never been here to experience it until now. Usually...I wouldn't complain about it but I was wearing a skirt and my legs were freezing. That's really embarrassing so I'm not even going to tell Link about it. What would he do anyway? Take off his tunic and wrap it around my waist? Hmm, maybe I should tell him…No, then he would be cold. Never mind.

"The path up is this way," he said, going up some stairs ahead of me. This outside area of the prison was gated so you wouldn't be able to fall off even if you wanted to. The path Link was talking about came in sets of fifteen steps for each set and there were four of them before we reached the top of the prison. He and I stood there to catch our breaths after because that was just exhausting!

"I hate stairs…" I breathed out. He laughed in between his own gasps for air and then grinned.

"Yeah, but at least we're at the top now. The mirror, if it's here, should be right around this wall. What do you think it'll look like?" He asked with bright blue eyes. I gave him a weird look, "A mirror...haha what do you mean?" I ask him.

He brought his lips together in irritation at my smartass remark and shook his head.

"I know it'll look like a mirror but what makes it so special!? Do you think it'll have markings on it or will it be huge like a house!? These are questions that need to be answered Scarlett!" He yelled. By this time I had caught my breath so I was able to place my hands on his muscular shoulders and push him.

"Well let's just see for ourselves then!"

He dug his feet in the ground to get on my nerves but I was still able to push him across it. Gods he was heavy. And he was laughing under his breath the whole time while he did it so I'm going to get him later for this. I just don't know how yet. I know we're both like seventeen and eighteen, but we still joke around like kids with each other. I don't care who you are, I like doing these kinds of things with Link and I know he feels the same or he wouldn't play along.

"Would you quit dragging your heels in the ground!?"

"Let me think about it...Nah…" He replied smartly.

"You are so immature!"

"I know and you are too!" He laughed.

"I know! I just thought I'd let _you_ know!" I laughed back before we reached a large opening in the wall beside us. Link was correct in saying this is the place we'd find the mirror in. It was huge! It had a large statue with tracks that twirled around it standing in the center of it. Several chains were attached around it which made me think a little of that skeletal ghost monster we faced in the prison a couple hours ago. Seeing this, Link and I stopped playing around and got serious.

"This seems promising. Midna, I think we may have just found the mirror you're looking for," Link said, taking a step forward towards the statue. On the first step, the ground began to vibrate under us before large dark poles fell from the sky and landed in the floor. The poles had red markings on them that illuminated brightly which meant that they were from the Twilight Realm. I'd recognize those markings anywhere. They were there to keep us in and not get out of whatever area they limited us to. Three black twilight monsters fell shortly after. They were those monsters with tentacle-like faces and they were the size of a large wolf. They were the size of me whenever I change into my canine form! I took out my sword while Link took out his bow and arrow. It's like we both swapped our preferred ways of attack for this.

"Wow, we haven't seen these things in a while."

"I know, and I still hate them as much as I did then," I said to him. He nodded in agreement and put an arrow on the string of his bow.

"Agreed. Let's see if they're as tough as they used to be." He let his arrow fly and it landed in one of the heads of the twilight monsters. It fell without a howl of pain or anything, leaving behind the other two. I complimented Link on his great shot, but I was cut short by one of the beasts howling at us. The loudness of it was absolutely dreadful. My eardrums felt like they were going to burst! Luckily, it didn't last for long. However, the monster that Link had shot was now back on his feet and running towards us. Link cursed and started running to the side.

"Shit, I forgot they could do that. We have to try to kill them at the same time. See if you can slash both with your sword! I'll tell you when I'm about to shoot this one!"

"Okay!" I yelled, running towards the other two monsters that weren't at all fixated on Link. When they saw me attacking them they got pissed and started running at me as well. I had to wait for Link's cue to kill them so instead of slashing my sword at them I simply dodged their sharp, knife-like claws when they attacked by dashing to the side.

"Alright you ready Scarlett!?" I heard Link yell from the other side of the center statue.

"I'm ready!"

"Okay, now!" He instructed, shooting his arrow and killing the twilight beast chasing him. As for me, I stabbed my master sword through both my enemies easily and they fell to the ground lifelessly. They then blew up in black dust while the twilight posts around us disappeared. I guess Zant didn't want us reaching this part of the dungeon so he placed that trap here. I really hate that guy…

"Nice!" Link ran towards me with a big smile on his face and put his hands on his hips. "Piece of cake right?"

"Yeah...except for my eardrums," I whined, rubbing my ears. He gave me a sympathetic look and apologized, "I'm sorry. I should've remembered that they screech like that…" He thought this was his fault? Or maybe he was just trying to make me feel better...Either way, I don't want him to feel bad about it.

"No no, don't blame yourself Link. It's not either of our faults so don't feel bad okay?"

He smiled and nodded.

"You sure?"

"Definitely," I said with a smile of my own. His face turned a rosy color as he looked from me to the statue. "Okay...well...That statue has tracks that run around it so I'll ride my spinner around it. I'm excited to see what happens!" He exclaimed. He walked over to the statue and did what he said he would. I watched him go up and up and up until he reached the top. Once up, the statue he was on began sinking into the ground while the chains around it started to lift something up. Midna came out of my shadow, which I had no idea she was in, and waited for her mirror to appear. The statue sank all the way to the ground and what replaced it was a mirror frame. Though, it looked like a large part of the mirror was gone. Uh oh…

"Holy crap, we found it!" Link said in more excitement. He jumped the rest of the way down from the sinking statue and ran to us to get a better look at the broken mirror. Midna was extremely angry with what she was seeing.

"What the hell!? Where's the rest of it!? We went all this way, battled through that whole dungeon, just to get a broken mirror!? Oh my Gods, what are we going to do now…" She muttered to herself behind her hands. She flew over to the mirror and landed in front of it with her head bowed. She was pretty upset about this huh...Link and I walked over to her and then looked at each other.

"Should I say something?" He whispered to me.

"You can try, but it probably won't make her feel better," I said back to him. He sighed and looked back at the little twilight imp.

"M-Midna...I know it looks bad but it's not game over yet. We'll find another way to beat Zant."

"No! No Link, this was our only chance!" She yelled at him. He flinched and took a step closer to me. Oh man, now she's going to be mad at me when I talk to her. I know this is like really bad for us but Link was only trying to help.

"Midna, Link was only trying to…"

"Stop. Look," she said to us, pointing above us. We tilted our heads up and what we saw were white ghostly figures on each Hyrulian tower that stood on the very top of the abandoned prison. For some reason, I didn't think they were a threat to us though. Rather, they were guides for us in our journey. It turns out they were as they spoke to us in loud, smooth voices.

" _Young heroes, a dark entity lurks in the shadows. This entity houses an evil power. You two who are guided by fate and possess the crest of the goddesses...Hear us for what we have to say. At the command of the goddesses, we have guarded the Mirror of Twilight since ancient times. We are the sages in service of the goddesses. You have come for it, but the mirror has been fragmented by mighty magic. By dark magic. Dark magic that only he possesses,"_ the told us.

Who were they talking about? Was it Zant?

" _His name is...Ganondorf."_

I guess that would be a 'no' then.

I looked at Link and he was just as puzzled as me. "Do you know who that is?" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders, "Beats me. He doesn't sound friendly though...Great sages! Who is this Ganondorf you speak of!?" He called out to them. The ghostly sages continued on with their explanation of this new enemy of ours.

" _He was the leader of a band of thieves who once invaded Hyrule in hopes of controlling it entirely. They sought an established dominion over all of the Sacred Realm. He was a demon thief and wielder of dark magic. He was renowned for his ruthlessness and carelessness for the lives of the innocent. However, he was so filled with darkness and hatred that he failed to see that even he was vulnerable to our unified power. Together, we brought him to justice. We brought Ganondorf to the top of this prison in hopes of sealing him away forever. We did not know, however, that he too was given the chosen power of the gods; just as you two have. The both of you were given the triforce of courage. He was given the triforce of power."_

"But why was he given that?" I asked them out loud. They were quiet for a moment and eventually said that they had no idea. I had no idea that there were some things even figures like these great sages didn't know…

" _By some divine prank, he had been blessed with the power. We do not know how this happened. We just knew that we needed to stop him from causing anymore chaos. With his power, he broke out of our bindings and attacked one of our sages...He perished in the incident…"_ One of them said in a disheartened tone. The way they explained made me feel so bad for them. One of their closest friends died right in front of them...I don't know, I could just feel my soul cry more and more with each word they said. I'm just emotional is all I think…

" _We sealed Ganondorf with a powerful sword we had all constructed ourselves but it was not enough. He was even able to wield it and use it against us. That's what he attacked us with...In the end, we knew we were no match for him. We all used the power of the mirror and sent him to the Twilight Realm so that he could never harm the people Hyrule again. We did not foresee that he would give some of his power to Zant over there as a result. That is why the events over the past few months have been happening. Only the true leader of the Twili can utterly destroy the Mirror of Twilight so Zant resorted to merely breaking it into pieces. These pieces are spread out across Hyrule; one being in the Snowy Mountain Heights, the second in an ancient grove, and the last in the heavens. You two who have been chosen by the goddesses should be able to retrieve them. But be warned of the dangerous, dark power that resides within those three pieces. Have faith in yourselves and the rest will come to you naturally…"_

And then they disappeared into thin air. Just like that. I think that left me just a little bit depressed. Midna wasn't much better.

"You okay Midna?" Link asked her. She frowned and sighed, "let's just find those pieces before it's too late. I'm going to turn you into wolves and we're going to transport back to Hyrule Field. The faster we are the better our chances of defeating Zant are," she told us in a rather gloomy way. Now I felt bad for her!? God what a crappy day! I kept glancing at Link to see his reaction and he just looked sad as well. Midna took out the crystal that turns us into wolves and the whole process took ten seconds. It was becoming faster than usual. That, or we were just used to it by now. We then found ourselves teleporting into Hyrule Field. The coldness of the desert disappeared and was replaced by a warm, gentle breeze of the field. But unlike the desert, you could hear the volume of the people in Castle Town next to us. The lights in the town made it a beacon for us whenever we were lost at night. The question is, what piece of the mirror should we look for first?

"I distinctly remember that guy back at Lake Hylia saying that Ashei had been exploring the Snowpeak area of Hyrule. One of the pieces of the mirror are there so we're going to need her help on this," Midna said, turning us back into humans, "so let's head to Telma's Bar now."

She changed us back into humans and then went back into Link's shadow, leaving us to travel to the bar by ourselves.

"I feel bad…" I whispered to the boy beside me. I was hoping she wouldn't hear me but I had no idea if she heard all of our conversations or not.

"Yeah me too...She seemed so depressed. I say we do a good job on this to cheer her up," he whispered back with a hopeful smile.

"Me too, let's do it!" I replied with confidence. We both walked across the bridge of Castle Town and crossed into the market. Like always, people were moving and socializing everywhere. It was late, but they didn't care. A great number of them were drunk and partying. Like I said, it was normal here. But Link and I weren't here to get drunk. Okay, we we're going to a bar but not to drink! We walked through the streets until we reached said bar and were happy to see that it was still open.

"I hope Telma doesn't try to flirt with me this time," Link whispered to me on our way in. I giggled and wrapped my hands around his arm.

"Well if she does I've got your back."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. I love it when he looks at me that way. He just gets so happy sometimes that I get happy too! But anyway, the inside of the bar was filled with a few people who were drunk out of their minds. Telma was at the bar, but we made sure to sneak past her to the back room when she wasn't looking. To our surprise, only Ashei was in the room and she looked up from her table when we walked in.

"Oh, Link and Scarlett. How are you guys?" She asked us, standing up from her seat.

"We've been better, but we just got back from the abandoned prison in the Gerudo Desert," we told her. Her eyes went wide and she laughed a little.

"Hehe, that was fast. It must have been a bitch."

"Trust me, it was," I muttered.

"Yes well, you two look like you could use some rest. But you came here for a reason so what do you need? I'm all ears," she said, crossing her arms. Link told her about the piece of the mirror being in the Snowpeak area of Hyrule and she became excited on hearing that. Well...When I say excited I mean a small smile. This was Ashei we're talking about so she was usually serious and militarized.

"You came to the right person. Tell you what. We can head over there tomorrow in the morning. In the meantime, please get some sleep. I'll see you outside of Castle Town at nine tomorrow. See you then." She rolled up the map that was always on the table and tucked it in her satchel she carried around. She then nodded to us before leaving the bar. She was most likely always the last person in the group to leave the bar for the day. Midna was probably pissed that we were losing time resting but we really did need some sleep. We just got through a damn prison for Hylia's sake. Surprisingly, she didn't come out of Link's shadow and nag us about it.

"Sleep sounds like a really good idea right now. I'm really tired," Link laughed tiredly.

"Me too. I took a nap but still. Come on, let's go to my house."

I grabbed his hand to follow me and we walked to the exit of the bar. I think Telma saw us because as soon as I opened the front door to leave I heard her loud, booming voice yell at us to come talk to her and I felt Link kind of push me out. He apologized shortly after.

"I'm sorry it's just she spotted us and we needed to get the fuck out of there!"

"It's okay, I don't blame you haha. Now come on, my house is this way."

I led him back to my house and dug in my bag for the key. I expected for my parents to be up but they weren't. There was actually a note on the table as soon as we got inside.

"Hey Link, can you light your lantern please?" I asked him. He nodded, lighting his lantern so I could see. The note said:

 _ **Scarlett, in case you come home this weekend, make sure you keep the place clean and all the doors locked. We are both out on a business trip for your dad's mentorship over in the Western Hyrulian military base so we'll be back Monday. If you do come, be sure to leave me a note back! I love you and hope to see you soon! Stay safe please!**_

"Your mom is so sweet," Link told me with a grin. I smiled too and laid the note back on the kitchen table.

"Yeah, she really is. I love her so much. I also love sleep so let's get some!"

We both ran upstairs to my room and began getting out of our gear. It felt so good to get in a shirt and shorts for once. Link didn't have any spare clothes so I let him wear some of mine. I know what you're thinking. They were just a normal shirt and a pair of athletic shorts! They were just a little small for him is all.

"Are you sure you're fine with me wearing this?" He laughed, holding them up in front of him.

"Yes! You should be comfy too so put them on. They may be girly but who cares. I won't freaking judge you," I told him as I slipped into my bed. He sighed with a reddened face and put on the clothes I gave him. They weren't...too girly. The shirt had a cute cat on it while the shorts were just regular. Once he was done, he got in the bed beside me and laid his head on the pillow.

"Wow."

"What?" I asked.

"Your bed is so comfy. I bet you I'm going to fall asleep in like thirty seconds. Today has been so freaking long. Damn…"

"I know...but we did good. And if you do, I guess I should say goodnight now," I said, putting my hand on his arm without even thinking. He smiled and closed his eyes.

"Yeah we did...Goodnight Scarlett."

It wasn't thirty seconds. It was more like twenty seconds. His breathing slowed down and his lips parted slightly. I'm glad he's finally getting some rest after doing all he did today. I envy his strength and energy sometimes. Knowing he was asleep, I closed my own eyes and fell asleep as well.

Someone remind me to bring my jacket for the Snowpeak area tomorrow…

* * *

 **(Dante's POV)**

I opened my eyes and found myself on the face of a stone cold floor. The last thing I remember is running towards Zelda before we both transported away from that room. And in that room there were these two wolves and this imp looking thing. Wait a minute...Where did we transport to? There was a bright white light and then nothing...I lifted my head and looked around. It was a large throne room with red carpet running along the middle of it. On each side of the carpet, there were marble pillars with elegant designs on them.

"You're finally up…"

Huh? Who was that? It sounded deep like a man's voice. I looked away from the pillars to the front of the room and saw the throne chair in all its glory. This must have been the room at the top of Hyrule Castle...The throne chair wasn't empty however. The voice came from a man sitting in it. He had flaming red hair with dark, grayish skin. He wore heavy-looking armor along with a sheathed sword that emitted a strong power even though he wasn't using it. He stared at me with the most menacing look I have ever seen and didn't say anything else until I stood up.

"Who...Who are you?" I asked him before I remembered the princess, "...and where's Princess Zelda!?"

He leaned on his fist in the chair and let out a sinister chuckle. Even his laugh gave me the chills.

"Look kid, you have no idea who you're talking to so I'm going to give you a pass on this one. I am Ganondorf, Demon King of Thieves. Knowing that, you would be smart to change your tone. Now who are you?" He asked me with an evil smile.

"I'm D-Dante, a royal knight of the Princess. Where is she?" I repeated.

"Try looking up boy."

I narrowed my eyes at him and then looked up to see Zelda trapped in this triangle made up of three separate triangles. It looked a lot like that mark on the back of Scarlett's hand. What did it mean?

"What...What is she doing up there?"

"She is just resting now. When she gave up her life force for that Twilight Princess she sacrificed her ability to defend Hyrule as well as herself from complete darkness. It was an absolutely foolish move. With most of her power gone, I was finally able to travel here from the Twilight Realm and take my rightful place on the throne. Her piece of the triforce had been keeping me away, but now I'm here...And I intend to stay…" He told me. I took a step back from where I was as I didn't know what to say to him.

"Why are you doing this?"

"The power of all the triforce pieces is divine power in its own right. With that, I will become the most powerful entity in this world and everyone will live in _my world_. A world of darkness and despair. I possess the triforce of power," he said, holding up the back of his hand for me to see. It was the same mark Scarlett had and the same mark Zelda was trapped in. Did that mean Scarlett held a piece of the triforce? What the hell is going on!?

"Your princess holds the triforce of wisdom. Now that she's mine I only need one last piece of the triforce, the triforce of courage. This one is tricky though. It's split into two for some ungodly reason. Curse those wretched Goddesses…"

Since he was explaining all this I thought it would be good to ask him now.

"Okay...So who holds the triforce of courage?"

"Two brats. Two teenagers such as yourself that are going to die soon. One of them is named Link while the other is named Scarlett. They both have it and have been working with the Twilight Princess in order to stop Zant and I. Then again...I don't need that piece of shit either. He is just as weak as them…" He muttered to himself for a second before looking back at me and smiling. Gods, what a creepy smile.

So Scarlett does hold something special...and so does her partner Link. That would make sense, but why was he telling me all this?

"...You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all this."

"Um...No?" I said, a little uncertain of what he was about to do. He smiled even more upon hearing my response and stood up. Oh Hylia, he was freaking tall. He walked over to me with strong, powerful steps. I backed up even more until I felt a wall behind my back. He had the whole throne room blocked from the outside world! I looked for a way out, but it was too late. He was already in front of me. However, he didn't even attack me. He just kept that grin of his on his face.

"Just like with Zelda, I could use you boy. I have this feeling that you know those two I just spoke of," he muttered.

I immediately shook my head.

"Ha! You're lying to me. Don't even bother with me kid. Tell the truth."

"I am! I don't know either of them! I swear!" I yelled to him. His presence made me feel so small and weak. But I had to do something. I couldn't let him treat Princess Zelda this way. I know I'll probably die if I fight him but at least I'll do it for her. Her and Link and Scarlett. On that last thought, I grabbed my sword from its sheath and swung it at him. He simply raised his hand and stopped it before it could connect with his head. He then used his other hand to grab my neck and slam me against the wall. His grip was deadly and I was left punching at his fist that held my throat.

"You got guts, but you're an idiot. To think that you could stop me. Ha! I haven't had a good laugh like that in a long time. I'll keep that in mind when I'm deciding whether to keep you around or not. For now, though, say goodbye to your princess."

He tightened his grip and I gasped out. It felt like he was literally crushing my throat. My vision began to fade and I turned my attention to the sleeping princess above. She was sleeping but she looked so concerned. That was the last thing I saw before my visioned faded completely and I went limp in Ganondorf's grip.

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

I woke up feeling extremely well rested after yesterday. I'm not really surprised by this. Scarlett and I were up all day going through that desert and then that prison that I never want to see again. I know I have to because the frame of the mirror is there, but yeah, screw that place. A guy can dream. I sat up in the bed and rubbed the sand out of my eyes while Scarlett stayed on her pillow asleep. I'm honestly surprised that I woke up before her. Usually, she wakes me up because I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. Then again, she has been kind of sleepy lately like when she took a nap yesterday while I was getting the boss key. That doesn't change the fact that I'm a heavy sleeper though! Don't believe me? One time I fell asleep while riding Epona back in Ordon Village and I didn't wake up for another four hours. Epona just stood in front of my house waiting for me to wake up! Poor horse...Anyway, back to the current time, I looked down at the girl beside me and she still had a hold of my arm from last night. By the look on her face she was dreaming about something pretty good. She was slightly drooling too which only made it cuter in my mind. I hate to wake her up but…

"Scarlett…It's time to get up," I whispered to her, gently nudging her arm. She opened her eyes for a second, looked at me, and then proceeded to bury her face into the pillow. She let out a whine when I nudged her again which only made me smile. I guess she was a little bit of a heavy sleeper too.

"Oh come on, don't growl at me like that!" I teased.

"I don't want to get up…" she said in the pillow. It was muffled but I understood her.

"I know, but we have to get up remember? Ashei is meeting us outside of Castle Town in about an hour so we need to start getting ready. Come on, I'll help you get up." I grabbed her arms and slowly lifted her off the pillow. She kept her eyes closed and just leaned her head into my chest once I got her all the way off the pillow. My heart started beating really fast when she did that and the quickness of it made her look up at me finally.

"Are you okay? Your heart's beating really fast…"

"Y-Yeah! I don't know why it's doing that. Are you awake now?"

Gods, that was one of the lamest excuses I've ever given.

"I guess so," she said, rolling her eyes. She lifted herself out of the covers and got off the bed to go to the bathroom. It was weird seeing her in a shirt and pair of shorts. I was so used to seeing her in her "hero" gear. I looked down at the clothes I was wearing and glared at myself. These clothes were definitely a challenge to my manly pride. But...I guess it's okay since only Scarlett saw me in them. I know this is random, but what would her parents think if they knew she and I slept in the same bed last night while they were gone?

"I don't even want to think about that," I said, shaking my head. I got off the bed myself as Scarlett came out of the bathroom looking refreshed. Her face was wettened so she must have splashed some water on her face. She had her blonde hair long instead of a ponytail and she also braided a part of her hair to finish the look.

"How's my hair like this? Pretty or ugly?"

"Scarlett, you always look pretty no matter what you do," I said truthfully. There's that triforce of courage kicking in…

"Aww! You're too sweet Link. Okay, I'll wear it like this for today. You taking a shower?" She asked me as she began putting on her gear. I shrugged and smirked. "Do I need to?"

"Hmm...I don't smell anything bad so I think it would be okay if you didn't."

"Alright cool."

I took off my shirt and slipped on my tunic. I like to think that Scarlett stole a glance of me when I wasn't looking but I'm not sure. I then put on my pants and tied on my boots. Scarlett did the same until we looked like our usual selves again. She didn't come out of my shadow this time but Midna did speak to us.

" _You guys ready? Alright, let's hurry up and get that mirror piece before it's too late."_

We nodded and started for the door until Scarlett let out this gasping sound.

"Oh my gosh I almost forgot. I'm going to need these if we're going to be in the Snowpeak mountains," she said, putting on a pair of warm leggings and a jacket. She wanted to give me one but I refused. It would only slow me down. Besides! I'm tough! I can handle the cold temperatures of Snowpeak!

"Alright, well don't make me say I told you so tough guy," she said.

I threw my hand down and chuckled.

"Nah, you won't. I mean really, what could happen?"

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! I'm finally done with that chapter! It took me forever because I had writer's block mid way through and now I have to check it for any mistakes. And before I go on my rant of reviewing the chapter let me just say that a lot of shit could happen Link. Trust me, those mountains are going to be freaking freezing. Please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you guys think so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time!**


	23. Chapter 23: Climbing Snowpeak

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter of the story! I'm sorry it took this long to update, but all I will say is that finals are this week and next week so I've been pretty busy. However, I will have the whole month of December off from dumbass college so maybe I can get a couple of chapters in during that time. I swear my luck has been so bad over the past two months. I'm not going to go into detail but it has been absolute shit. Back to the story though, we're over halfway done with it so expect some important things to happen! Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you guys think so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

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Ch. 23: Climbing Snowpeak

 **(Link's POV)**

Leaving Scarlett's house, she and I walked into the bright, warm street that was bustling with people already. Given how drunk most of them were last night I didn't think they would be out this early. They could be different people from last night, but I recognise some faces so...You know what, that doesn't matter right now. I'm daydreaming. What brought me out of it was Scarlett's voice next to me.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back inside and get like a jacket or something?"

I like that she's worried about me, but I assured her that I would be fine.

"Scarlett, I'll be fine. Trust me, I've never met a winter I couldn't conquer over at Ordon Village so this shouldn't be that difficult."

"Okay, well what if you're wrong?" She asked with a growing smile. I looked at her and she had this unique twinkle in her eyes, as if she knew she would be saying, "I told you so," later on today. "If that happens then...I guess you'll have to keep me warm," I joked. She laughed out loud and punched me in the arm for that. Yeah I kind of deserved that one…

"We'll see how I'm feeling when the time comes," she muttered just loud enough for me to hear.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. She just laughed and started walking faster to get ahead of me. So she's gonna be like that...I matched her pace as we headed towards the outside of Castle Town. Ashei told us to meet her at the gate so that's where we were headed.

"So I've noticed that Midna hasn't said a word ever since we left Telma's Bar. You think she's alright?" Scarlett asked me. "I can't say for sure," I replied, glancing at my shadow on the road. She was in there somewhere. I guess she's a little depressed over the news of the broken mirror. It's like we said yesterday, we feel bad for her. Hopefully she'll cheer up as the day goes on. At the moment, we had just made it to the bridge that connected to one of the gates in Castle Town. Ashei was waiting at the end of it and she was holding this pelt of some animal. When we reached her Scarlett asked her about it.

"Good morning Ashei, what's that?" She asked.

"Good morning, this is a yeti pelt I made for exploring Snowpeak. The fur is thick for the harsh weather up there so it's pretty efficient. I see you brought a jacket. Smart. And you? What did you bring to keep yourself warm?" She turned to me and looked me up and down. I suddenly felt small under her gaze. I decided to play it cool.

"Ha! I'll be fine! My tunic will keep me warm!"

Yeah Link, real cool…

Ashei smirked a little but didn't say anything as she turned her head and started walking in the direction of Snowpeak. I gave Scarlett a glance and she was trying to hold in a giggle. I really hope these two are wrong because I'm actually starting to get scared about this cold weather. I mean, it's nice and warm here so it can't be that different there right? Right!? Ugh...I'm going to regret not getting a jacket huh? Oh well. I'm not sure where exactly the Snowpeak mountains are. I just know that it's near the Zora's Domain. Neither Scarlett or I have been there so this could be pretty fun! At least to me anyway. I love adventure and anything to do with it. The only thing that sucks is that we're always on a time limit with Zant always breathing down our necks. I hope that when this is all over Scarlett and I can go on adventures like this still, but as two enjoying each other's company. I enjoy her company now, but you know what I mean; visit places like Snowpeak just to hang out with each other…

"It's starting to get colder. You feel that," Scarlett asked, nudging my arm with her elbow. I nodded, feeling the slight touch of the cool wind hit my face. We had gotten near the lake so it was also pretty misty.

"It feels good though," I said. She smiled and put her hand on mine as if we were holding hands. "I hope it stays that way," she said back. Gosh, we're both doing a lot of hoping today huh? But more importantly, she's holding my hand! It's not a big deal but it's definitely progress! The tips of her fingers were soft over mine and her hand's smaller but it fits mine perfectly. I'm probably overthinking this like I always do. She's just being nice…

"So...Are you two a thing now?" Ashei asked as we walked into the Zora's Domain. Scarlett took her hand away and said "what" as soon as she asked us that. I just looked away with a blush on my face. I figured this situation would turn out better if I just didn't talk at all.

"You heard me. You two were holding hands just now so I was curious," Ashei commented with a small smirk appearing on her face. Scarlett shook her head and laughed.

"Oh, we're just good like that I guess. We're not a thing but I think we're pretty comfortable with each other. Right Link?"

"Yep," I said in a sort of depressing tone to be honest. I know I bring it up all the time, but I wish Scarlett could just see that I have feelings for her. I know it's up to the guy to confess to the girl, but it's so hard to; harder than any enemy we've faced so far. I just...can't bring myself to do it for some reason. So for now...I'll just wait to see what happens. By the way she looked at me, I could tell she noticed my gloomy mood. The only reason she didn't say anything about it was because Ashei started talking again. Thank Hylia…

"If you say so. Anyway, this is the entrance to the Snowpeak Mountains. The temperature changes dramatically as soon as you enter so be ready for that. It's pretty unique in that aspect," she told us in her monotone-like voice. She had led us to the entrance of a small cave and she was the one to first enter the Snowpeak area of Hyrule. Scarlett gave me a smirk before going in second. That meant I was the last to go in. As soon as I got to the end of the cave and entered Snowpeak my body instantly started shivering. Holy...Holy...Damn it, it was fucking cold! Never before have I felt such coldness on my body! My teeth began chattering, my body was shaking, and my feet were constantly moving in an attempt to keep warm. I had totally forgotten about what Scarlett and I talked about so when I looked at her she had her arms crossed and she had a big smile on her face. Crap.

"D-D-Don't say it…" I said.

"I…"

"Don't!"

"...Told you so."

"Fuck," I said in defeat, bowing my head. Ashei looked like she wanted to laugh, but kept her composure.

"I've explored Snowpeak for quite a while now and I've noticed a large creature lurking around up in the mountains. However, it doesn't seem to be a danger to you. One day I followed him and found out that this creature actually owns a home up there. A big one. Maybe you can find what you're looking for up there. All you need to do is follow the trail up the mountain. It shouldn't take you more than a day so you'll be fine as long as you have something warm to wear."

She glanced at me one last time.

"...Yeah...Well, good luck guys. Come talk to me when you're done up there. I'd like to know what's in that house."

She turned and left us alone in the snowy desert together. I continued to shiver while Scarlett stared at me with a sympathetic smile.

"Do you need a hug?" She asked.

I sniffed a little and nodded. She rolled her eyes and embraced me. She was much warmer than I was with the winter clothing she brought. Though, she was probably still cold given that it was only a jacket and pair of leggings. So this hug was good for the both of us! We just stood there in each others arms for a minute before Scarlett gave a gasping noise.

"I just got an idea!" She exclaimed happily.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep! To stay warm, you could just turn into a wolf! That way, you'll have a fur coat!" She said. I smiled at her idea because I had honestly forgotten all about that. Yeah yeah I know, how could I forget that I can turn into a damn wolf? It just happens sometimes alright! But back to her idea, it was a really good one! So I called Midna and she came out of my shadow.

" _Yes?"_

"Can you turn me into a wolf please?

" _Of course,"_ she said, snapping her fingers. I felt my bones shift from a human's into a canine's and I was soon a large dark wolf. I looked at Scarlett and barked. I couldn't talk to her since she was a human but she knew what I meant.

"Am I going to turn into a wolf too? No, I'll just stay a human because I always preferred being in this form. But don't worry, by now I can practically tell what you're saying even though you can't speak to me." She then turned to Midna, "Midna, are you okay? You've been down ever since we learned about the pieces of the mirror. We'll get them for sure so cheer up!" She put her fingers to the sides of her mouth and formed them upwards into a smile. Midna shrugged her tiny shoulders in response and sighed.

"I know you guys will. I believe in you. I just want this all to be over with. Until then, see ya."

She went inside Scarlett's shadow and that was that. Scarlett clicked her tongue and scratched behind my ear. My foot instinctively started thumping the ground like a dog's would. She started to giggle and scratched harder, making me thump the ground harder. Gods, this is embarrassing. I barked at her to stop and she did.

"Hehe, I was just messing with you. But for real, that was so cute."

Cute? She thinks I'm cute guys! But as a dog...Ugh...I snorted at her and began walking over to the trail Ashei guided as towards. Scarlett followed me while giggling again and we were soon walking together up the mountain. I expected obstacles along the way, but I didn't expect there to be a frozen lake on the mountain. It covered the entire base of it. I stopped at the edge of the lake and glanced at the girl next to me.

"Hmm...it's frozen so it should be okay. We just need to be careful. Follow my lead."

She took her first step on the ice and totally slipped on her ass. If i could laugh right now I would have. Instead I raised my paws to cover my eyes.

"Son of a bitch that hurt! Okay don't follow my lead!"

I barked and carefully took my own step. The ice on the lake was very slippery, but I somehow managed to keep my footing. Scarlett stayed close behind me and held onto my tail like a dog on a leash. I didn't mind though. She needed to get across the ice one way or another. Once we were across she petted my head again and I found myself wagging my tail.

"Thanks Link. Now let's get up that mountain. Oh, and are you warm now that you're a wolf?" She asked me as we started walking again. I nodded and barked a 'yes'. She smiled as we traveled up the snowy mountain. The environment was all white and filled with snow. Parts of the mountain were covered with trees while the trail Scarlett and I were going up didn't have any. However, I did see a thick fog ahead. Great, just great. It was getting thicker by the minute as soon as we made contact with it and it became hard to see after a while. Scarlett probably couldn't sense anything, but I could. With my strong sense of smell I could tell something was ahead of us. Something big. And by big, I mean big as me. I stopped in my tracks and Scarlett stopped as well. She knew something was up as I started to growl.

"What is it?"

I obviously couldn't reply so I got in front of her to protect her. I could hear her take out her sword as the thing I could sense came towards us more and more. Out of the thickness of the fog a solid white wolf emerged and lunged at us. I snarled at it, but when I sunk my teeth into it it vanished. It was like a puff of white, icy smoke.

"Whoa, okay…" Scarlett muttered, "I don't know what those things were but I think we should just hurry up this mountain before anymore come. They freak me out."

She started jogging up the mountain and I had to quicken my pace to match hers. Thankfully, no other wolves attacked us. In fact, there didn't seem to be anything that lived in Snowpeak. That one disappearing wolf was the only thing we've seen so far. I'm getting kind of tired of just barking at Scarlett whenever I want to talk to her so I stopped us to get Midna to change me back into a human.

" _Why the hell did you turn into a wolf in the first place if you were just going to change back into a human ten minutes later!?"_ She screamed at me. I growled at her and she gave me a look before snapping her fingers. I felt the coldness hit my skin when I turned back and I began shivering. Scarlett frowned and touched my arm.

"I agree with Midna. Why _did_ you turn back?" She asked. I smiled and said, "I'd rather be able to talk to you and be cold then not."

Her bright green eyes widened for a second before an even brighter smile came to her face.

"You're an idiot," she laughed, shaking her head. I laughed too and shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, but aren't you glad you get to hear my voice again?"

She brushed her fingers through her hair as she thought of a good response.

"I guess I am a little bit…" She said with rosy cheeks. That's all I needed to hear to be happy. Of course I knew she was teasing. What would she do without me, am I right? Don't fucking say she would do perfectly fine because it's not true! At least I hope it wouldn't be! I just know I wouldn't do fine without her…

"Look Link, another howling stone is over there," she said, nudging me and pointing over to a ledge not far away from us. Hmm, another one? We walked over to it and it was blowing a completely different tune than all of the other stones. Each stone blew their own unique tune and this one was no different. The only thing I always wonder about these stones is how we always manage to spot them. Is it possible that we may have missed one or two in the past? Oh wait, I don't think so because Shade would've told us probably. It's still a good question though. Scarlett walked up to it and crouched down in the snow to get a closer look at the stone. She turned to me after and asked, "So do you want to sing or do you want me to sing?"

"How about we sing together," I said. She looked surprised by my enthusiasm to sing and grinned.

"Okay, yeah let's do it."

We both opened our mouths and counted to three before singing the tune the stone was giving. Our voices were in perfect sync for most of it with my voice cracking at one point, but we got the job done. The golden wolf symbol appeared on our map and the stone suddenly stopped its howling tune.

"I'm so proud of you! You're getting better and better! And! You wanted to sing even though I gave you a choice! I feel like a proud mom or something!" She said, ruffling my dirty blonde hair with her hand.

"I'm older than you though! Gah!"

"Don't care! I'm still proud. I think I would make a great-...Holy crap…" She said, her eyes going wide like before. I blinked at her and furrowed my eyebrows.

"What?"

"Link, do you see that?" She asked, pointing to the top of the mountain we had previously been going up before we found this howling stone. I looked up and saw this large, dark figure just standing there staring at us. The thick fog of the mountain covered any facial features it had so all we could see was the beast's silhouette.

"Wow...Could that be the beast Ashei was talking about?" I asked out loud. Scarlett looked at me and nodded.

"Oh yeah, it could be. I had forgotten about that. She did say that it was harmless so you want to try following it?"

I nodded and the both of us went back to the trail up the mountain. The beast, seeing us coming towards it, turned its back to us and walked out of our sights. I hope we can find it once we make it up this hill. And damn it, it's freaking cold out here! Yeah, I haven't forgotten about the deadly temperature up here. Climbing higher and higher up the mountain wasn't helping. But I'm a man! And men don't give up! So I'll just deal with it…By the time we made it up the hill the beast was gone. However, there's no need to panic! In front of us was a large hole that led up into a cave so that had to be where he disappeared to.

"A cave? Interesting…" I muttered, walking over to it. Scarlett followed and I helped her down before jumping down in the dark cavern. Shockingly, the cave was much warmer than the weather outside! How is that even possible!? I even stopped shivering! Okay, I was shivering a little bit but that was only an after effect from before.

"It feels so much better in here. It must feel good for you huh?" Scarlett asked happily. "Hell yeah it does. It's still cold but at least I don't feel like I'm on the edge of getting frostbite. Alright, so it looks like that beast went up these vines," I said, looking up at a tall wall of wines inside the cave. I'm not sure how this wall exists seeing how the wall is taller than the entrance we came down from but whatever! Logic is for losers.

"...I'll climb up it first and tell you what's at the top," I said, clutching my fingers in the vines and pulling myself up. This was more like it; more my style. Rather than being in that cold, nasty weather, I was more comfortable with something summer or spring related. These vines made me think of the forest back home and it sort of warmed my heart. That, or I just craved physical activity. At the top of the vines, there was a huge circular door with large handprints on it. It reminded me of the doors back in the dungeons Scarlett and I have gone through already.

"What's up there, Link?" She called out to me from below.

"It's a door! Come on up!" I said back to her. She nodded and climbed the vine wall. Once she reached the top she gave the door a curious look. "Those are some big handprints on that door." She walked over to the rock-made door and put her hand over the prints. They were about half the size of the beast's. I did the same and my were exactly half the size so mine were just a bit bigger.

"They sure are," I said, "hold on."

I grabbed both sides of the door, and with a grunt, pushed it to the side. Shit, now it was cold again! Mother nature, you cruel whore! I looked up through the chilling wind and saw the beast again. This time, he was much closer and I could see more of his features. He was tall, much taller than either of us. That didn't say much though. I was 5 foot 8 for Hylia's sake! But back to his features! He had solid white fur that covered his entire body. His hands and face looked ape-like. The last thing I could see was that he had a brown helmet on his head and a giant red fish in his hand. He looked like a yeti! I've read about them in one of my books back home but I obviously have never seen one in person. And I don't think Scarlett has either by the hilarious look on her face.

"Calm down, yetis are said to be pretty cool when it comes to relations with humans. Though, that book is pretty old...Guess we'll find out!" I yelled. I ran over to the yeti and poked it on the shoulder. Do you really think I was afraid of it? Hell no, I've got the triforce of courage bitch! The yeti beast turned to look at me and he had a big smile on his face! I knew he was friendly! Scarlett was still skeptical about it but she wasn't exactly afraid of him.

"I knew humans were here. I see humans not often so why come up mountain?" He asked. His speech was almost backwards but easy to understand. I was going to answer him but he just kept on talking. Well alright then…

"You on spiritual journey? Ha! Don't answer. That funny joke. Yetis can joke too. But why are you two here. Tell truth," he said. You could see his manner as rude or very nice. It just depends on how you were feeling that day. I, fortunately, was feeling on the good side so I took it as him being nice since he was smiling so big.

"Well...you see we're kind of looking for this mirror that will save Hyrule. The only problem is the mirror is broken into pieces and we believe that each piece is scattered throughout Hyrule by this evil power that is trying to destroy it. By scattering it across Hyrule, it gives him a better chance of winning. That's why we are trying to find them as soon as possible. Scarlett and...Oh I didn't introduce ourselves. My bad. I'm link and this is Scarlett," I informed him. He smiled even more and shook both of our hands. His hand was giant compared to ours.

"Nice to meet Link and Scarlett! I am Yeto!"

"Well it's nice to meet you too, Yeto!" Scarlett and I laughed.

"I glad! As for mirror, why think all the way out here? You lucky you meet me. You make good climb so I help you. I found shiny mirror piece. Same mirror you look for maybe?"

Scarlett looked at me and nodded. "Maybe! Yeah!" She said, pretty excited that we actually had a lead in this.

"You come to house see for self! Yeto's house big! Big yeti, big house! Ha!" he laughed loudly. He was so jolly and I loved it! "...I catch this fish and I make tasty dinner! House is down hill. We slide down. Do like me!"

"Do...like you? What do you…"

Yeto turned to a tree near us and punched it with ease. What looked like a frozen sled dropped down from one of the branches and hit the ground. Yeto jumped on it, only being able to fit one foot on the sled. He then pushed himself like he was on a skateboard until he had enough momentum down the hill to let gravity take its course. We watched as he rode down the hill gracefully before he came up on a gap in the mountain ledge. However, before he could fall, he jumped over it and continued down the hill.

"What the hell was that!?" Scarlett screamed.

"I don't know but...," I punched the tree as hard as I could and a frozen sled fell from another branch. "...Holy shit did it look fun!" Scarlett gave me a peeved look and she parted her lips slightly.

"You can't be serious. We can't do something like this. Not as good as Yeto anyway! How are we going to jump over the ledge?" She asked. I hummed and hopped on the frozen sled. I tried lifting my feet and they wouldn't budge. Hmm...They were stuck to it. I tried jumping and I came up along with the sled. Alright, problem solved!

"I know what to do. Go ahead and hop on. We can both fit on this one," I told her. She sighed and stepped on the sled. That was easier than I thought it would be. Usually she would hesitate but I guess she was trusting me completely on this. She wrapped her arms around my back and held herself tightly to my body.

"You better know what you're doing Link or I swear to the gods I will beat the crap out of you in the afterlife."

I smiled and shook my head.

"Don't worry. We've got this. Just follow my lead. When I say 'jump' we both jump. Okay?" I asked. She nodded and looked at the path down the hill. I was shivering from both the cold and the thrill of doing this. I mean, you don't get the opportunity to do something like this every day! Especially when you're from Ordon Village or Castle Town. So this was totally badass!

"Here we go!" I yelled, pushing us down the slope. We started off slow and then faster and faster! Scarlett was screaming profanities while I was focused on getting us through this first gap in the Snowpeak ledge. When it came up I yelled, "Jump!" Scarlett stopped cursing and jumped with me like I knew she would. We made it over the ledge and were now going down a narrow path in a small valley.

"We survived!" She exclaimed.

"For now! Here comes another gap!" I yelled as we came up on a broken bridge. Geez, why didn't Yeto fix all of this before? He might just like sledding down the hill. If that was the case I don't blame him. There aren't a lot of exciting things to do in a place like this.

"Jump!" I said. Scarlett and I jumped at the same time and we made it over the fragmented, wooden bridge. The next area we had to go through didn't have any gaps, but it did have a lot of trees. This was honestly worse because we had to dodge and go around each tree so we wouldn't hit it. Scarlett stayed glued to my body the whole time and her body warmth made Snowpeak tolerable. I just need to keep my hormones in check and it will all turn out okay! I hope...That's just me thinking personally to myself so don't pay attention to me when I do that! Who the hell am I talking to!? A little audience in my mind? Nevermind, because I can see Yeto's house now. It's even bigger than I thought it would be! Holy crap, it's a fucking mansion!

"It's beautiful…" I heard Scarlett whisper to herself. I smiled as we finally reached the bottom of the hill. Yeto was waiting for us and when we reached him he gave us a huge hug. What was he doing!? He lifted us up and then kicked the frozen sled away from our feet. Well that's one way to do that…

"Thanks Yeto. That was pretty fun!" I told him as he set us both back on the ground.

"By fun you mean completely insane right?" Scarlett said, dusting off some snow off her skirt. Yeto just smiled again.

"Yeto thinks ride down is fun too. That why I don't fix bridges along way. No reason to. You like house?" He asked us. Scarlett brought her hands up and nodded repeatedly. "Oh yes! It's absolutely beautiful! Did you design it?" She asked as the two of them began walking to the front door, leaving me behind. I rolled my eyes and followed them while they talked about the design of the house and the exterior. You know, boring stuff. From behind them, I could see Midna come out of Scarlett's shadow and start to go into mine. I chuckled a bit and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Don't care for that kind of stuff either huh?"

" _I couldn't give two shits about the design of this fucking house,"_ she said, slipping into my shadow without Scarlett or Yeto noticing. I continued to laugh under my breath until we made it inside the giant, magnificent mansion. I will admit that the inside was pretty cool and fancy. There were staircases that ran along both sides of the room. There were two doors on the second floor and then two doors in front of us.

"I go to kitchen to cook. You go to room to meet wife," said Yeto once he and Scarlett were done talking about the house. He pointed at one of the doors in front of us and then left to go in the kitchen. Scarlett and I looked at each other and grinned. "He's pretty abrupt, but he's a pretty cool guy."

"Yeah he is. Come on, let's go meet his wife or whatever," she said, taking my arm and bringing us into the next room. This room was so...warm. Yes, warm. There was a huge lit fireplace in the back of it and I felt like my prayers had been answered. In front of the fireplace was a chair with another yeti in it. Must be Yeto's wife.

"Um...Hello," Scarlett said shyly. The female yeti looked at us from her chair and smiled kindly.

"Hello cute little humans. Husband mentioned you on his way to kitchen. He also mentioned mirror. You want to see-..." she coughed a few times and shook her head. "...sorry I have a cold. As I was saying, he said you want to see mirror. Mirror locked in third floor bedroom. I show you it after dinner. I am Yeta by the way. Your name?" She asked. She spoke better than her husband and her voice was much softer. It was soothing in a way like a mother to her child.

"I'm Scarlett and this is Link," Scarlett told her. Yeta nodded and closed her eyes.

"It is nice to meet you. I rest now."

She began snoring after that which meant she fell asleep almost instantly. Scarlett slapped her hand against her face while I looked at the time. "It's five in the afternoon already. I had no idea it took us that long to get here. Like, I don't even have to go to the bathroom or anything!"

"That's good and all but that just reminded me that my bladder is about to bust so I'm going to go to the bathroom. The only problem is...where the hell is the bathroom in this place!? And where is the kitchen!?" Scarlett screamed. She was starting to panic and she was hopping on each foot while holding her crotch. Wow, she really had to go. I shouldn't have said that then…

"Link, please help me!" She yelled.

"Okay! Okay! Ummm...Just go outside in the snow! It won't matter Scarlett."

She gasped at my solution to the problem.

"But that's freaking embarrassing. And do you WANT me to freeze my vagina off out there!?"

"Well seeing as how I've been freezing my balls off this whole time I didn't think it was that big of a deal!" I yelled back at her. She gave me a look that essentially meant 'touché' before going outside to pee. I smirked and looked around. There were a couple of doors in this room. One on the right and one on the left. Might as well do some exploring. I decided on the door on the right because right is always right. I know that's not always the case but shut up! That's my way of thinking! Turns out, I found the kitchen! See, I told you I was right. Yeto was cooking in a big cooking pot. It had fish and vegetables and all sorts of spices boiling inside it. Where he got vegetables all the way out here was beyond me. But boy did that soup he was making smell good! Scarlett and I haven't eaten all day so this would really hit the spot.

"Link! Where did you go?" Scarlett asked from the other room. She must have finished going to the bathroom already.

"I'm in here Scarlett!" I answered her. In a few seconds, she came through the door and her stomach growled when she saw the cooking pot. I couldn't help but laugh. "Hungry?"

"Starving," she replied with a look of helplessness.

"Soup ready soon. For now make self comfortable in room," Yeto said, nodding to a door behind him. Scarlett and I shrugged and followed his instructions. We went through the door and walked into a hallway. It was pretty ordinary. It had red carpet on the ground and it led up to another door. Behind the door was a large bedroom with its very own fireplace. It was lit for some reason...but still! It was warm and toasty! The room was complete with a king-sized bed and a small bathroom.

"So that's where the bathroom was," Scarlett muttered angrily. I smiled and laid on the bed. It was so soft and comfortable that I could just drift off…

"Link if you keep laying on that bed you're going to fall asleep so you might as well get off it."

"Ugh, you're probably right…"

I got off the bed and rubbed my eyes. We were both always tired so whenever we did get to rest we always fell asleep. Scarlett set her stuff down and began taking off parts of her armor. She changed into a shirt and shorts because we were practically done for the day. We got here and that was all that mattered for today. We can do all the hard stuff tomorrow. Yes, Yeta said the mirror piece was in the third floor bedroom, but I'm willing to bet that it will be much more difficult than that. It always is…

"Hey, I'm gonna go check on the soup," I said.

"Okay I'll be here," she said back to me. I walked back to the kitchen and found Yeto stirring the delicious-smelling soup. I waved at him and he grinned widely. "Link! You like room?"

"Yeah it's awesome, Yeto! Thank you for being so nice to us!"

"Your welcome. We don't get lots of humans here so I be super nice. You like wife?" He asked me, continuing to stir the soup every so often. I nodded. "Yeah, she was very nice to us. She said she had a cold though...Is she alright?"

Yeto brought his hand to his chin in thought.

"Hmm...Yes but she be that way ever since birthday couple days ago. We have good time that night. She maybe drink too much," he said. I nodded in understanding before my head lit up with thoughts. He said it was Yeta's birthday the other day...For some reason that reminded me of something...What was it...Oh gods…

"Yeto what day is it?" I asked him urgently. He tilted his head at me for a second before picking up a calendar from the counter next to him. "This one." He pointed at today's date and my mind just kind of exploded right there.

"Holy crap," I said aloud.

"What wrong?" He asked me.

"I'm pretty sure it's Scarlett's birthday...Crap how could I forget...More importantly...How has she not said anything about it!? Maybe she's testing me or something on whether I'm a good friend or not...She's eighteen today. I need to do something for her...Any ideas?" I asked Yeto. He smiled and pointed over at the fridge.

"Ohhhh! Special number! There remaining cake from wife birthday party. You give Scarlett that," he suggested.

"Hmmm…" I opened the fridge and found two slices of cake that looked perfect. They were the right size, right frosting, and right type of cake. I think vanilla is Scarlett's favorite so this was all turning out so well!

"Thanks Yeto. She's going to love this."

"I hope so! Ha! Soup is done!"

"Awesome, I'm starving!"

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

I watched Link leave the room to go check on the soup before stretching my arms over my head. What a day. Climbing Snowpeak was exhausting even though it didn't take as long as I thought it would. We got lucky yet again in finding Yeto. Who knew he would be so nice to two strangers. I guess you get a little lonely out here with just you and your wife...I set my bag down by the foot of the bed and glanced at the window on the right side of the room. I walked over to it and looked behind the curtain just to see what was outside. What I saw was a courtyard filled with snow. It was so pretty. I could see the individual snowflakes that fell from the sky. I was so fascinated by this place because it barely ever snows in Castle Town. It might happen once or twice a year and I love snow so this was great. And this mansion? Even better! It makes me feel like a princess being in here; even though I'm the heroine and not the princess. A girl can dream though.

"I wonder who would be my prince if I was a princess like Zelda," I said, leaving the window and laying on the bed. My perfect prince would be strong and brave and fun to be with. He can't be strict or boring. He also can't be too tall. I know girls like guys to be taller than them, but I would prefer a guy who is a bit taller but matches my height. I like it better that way. He can't be too old either. I would say a three-year age gap would be my limit. And let's see...Oh! He also can't be dumb! He has to have a brain and he has to know how to use it. He doesn't have to be a freaking genius or anything, but you get the point.

"Hey Midna?" I called her. I waited for a minute and nothing happened. I sat up in the bed with a confused look on my face and called her name again. She still didn't appear from my shadow.

"What the hell? She must've gone into Link's shadow...When did she do that?"

I laid back on the bed and and took a deep breath. The bed was so comfy and large that it was able to fit my whole body both longways and sideways. Then again, it was most likely made for a yeti so that made total sense.

I'm so tired...I can't help but get this feeling that I'm forgetting something...It's something that's like...lingering in the back of my mind…

"Soup is ready!"

"Huh?"

Link came into the room with a tray of two bowls of soup in one hand while his other hand was behind his back. However, I could see the edges of another tray he was holding. What was on that?

"It smells good doesn't it? Yeto said it was his special recipe. Here," he said, setting the tray down and handing me a bowl. I took the bowl and looked inside it. It had an extremely pleasant aroma to it. I don't know what type of fish he put in here, but it looked pretty damn good! I took a spoonful and it warmed me to my soul when I swallowed. It had a creamy texture and the vegetables he put in there complimented the meat of the dish so well. And yes, fish is a meat.

"This is awesome!" I told Link. I then looked at the hand behind his back and rose my eyebrows. "What are you hiding behind your back?" I asked him, trying to sneak a peek. He grinned at me and revealed what it was. He set a piece of cake in front of me and yelled, "Happy birthday!"

I stared at the cake, bewildered for a second, before I finally realized that it was my freaking birthday today! I had totally forgot! How the hell did I forget my day of birth!? What's wrong with me! But Link remembered! Oh my gods, I'm so happy right now! I was left speechless right in front of him so all I could do was wrap my arms around him in a hug. I honestly felt like crying tears of joy right now!

"Link...I can't even...Thank you for remembering! Even I had forgotten about it since we've been so busy…"

"Well I don't blame you. We have so much shit to do that we just get so fed up with it all. But that's why you got a guy like me to remember it for you!" He said. I smiled and hugged him tighter. I love him so much!

It just occurred to me...

All this time I had been describing the perfect prince for me and now that I think about it Link fits each description perfectly. It's almost unreal. He cares about me and he is so nice to me. He protects me from anything that crosses our path. And...He just makes me happy every single day I'm with him.

I think I've been secretly resisting my feelings for him, but now I don't want to anymore.

I think...I might be in love with him…

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Well it's about time she embraced her feelings for Link! They both now like each other but when will they confess their love? Who knows! Anyway, thanks so much for waiting this long for this chapter. I'm really sorry for taking so long to update but things just keep coming up for some reason. But anyway, please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think of it so far! Maybe some ideas as to when they should confess to each other. Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time!**


	24. Chapter 24: The Snowpeak Mansion

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! This is a dungeon chapter so we'll see if I get this posted within the damn week. It's Wednesday, January 10th, and I want you guys to call me on my shit if I end up posting this shot like on January 15th or something like that! I'm serious! I hate myself! Alright, please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you guys think of it so far! If you have any ideas feel free to PM me. Or if you want to make some fanart for the story I would love to be a part of that. Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 24: The Snowpeak Mansion

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

I wiped away a tear before Link saw that I was on the urge of crying. Though, when I pulled away from him he probably saw that my eyes were watery. But instead of asking me about it, he smiled and handed me my plate of cake. The cake was vanilla with vanilla icing which just happened to be my favorite. I'm a very simplistic person when it comes to food.

"Thank you, Link...You are just...the sweetest guy in the entire world…" I told him, taking a bite of the cake. It was cold but in the best way possible. The icing was soft and creamy while the cake itself was moist. Okay, maybe I shouldn't use the word "moist" because that word is gross. The cake wasn't dry. There, that sounds better.

"It's delicious. How's yours?" I asked him.

"Pretty good! Yeto said that it was Yeta's birthday the other day and said I could use the cake they had with her to give to you. Sorry I didn't have anything planned...I wish I could at least give you a gift or something…" He said back to me, looking a little guilty because of it. I shook my head in total disagreement.

"Link, oh my gods, you didn't even have to do this for me! Just the fact that you remembered is enough for me. Just having you here with me is enough for me. The cake is just bonus! Now come on, don't feel guilty about a thing," I said, reaching over and pecking him on the cheek. His face turned bright red and so did mine, to be honest. I cannot believe I just did that. Why did I just do that!? I hope he doesn't think I'm creepy now!

"Uhh...O-Okay, I won't…" He said after the brief moment of silence between us. He rubbed the back of his head with the same cute smile on his face. Okay, I think I may be in the clear. I need to make a mental note not to ever do that again. Unless of course...we actually do become a couple...No! I shouldn't just assume that's even gonna happen. I need to figure out whether Link likes me or not. I can't just flat out ask him. That always ends in failure. Rather, I look for subtle hints from him from now on...Alright, I don't know if this makes sense, but having an official crush is a little bit exciting. I've never felt this way before about anybody. I just see him in a new light. Even seeing him take a bite of his cake is cute to me. Did I always think this about him or is it something new?

"So, I was thinking we could get up around ten or something and then just ask Yeta to bring us to the mirror," he said, taking another bite of his cake. I nodded in agreement but still gave him a skeptical look.

"Sounds like a plan, but it probably won't be that easy. This house is really big which means that we're going to have to explore it like a dungeon one way or another. I don't know how and I don't know why but this always happens to us for some reason," I told him, eating my cake as well and finishing it before him.

"I wouldn't doubt it…" he muttered with a sigh. As soon as he was done eating he laid his plate on the small nightstand on the side of the bed. He then stretched his arms over his head and laid back on his pillow. He let out a big yawn and closed his eyes without a care in the world it seemed. That was rare for us. I smiled seeing him like that and basically followed his action. The pillow was a feather one and my head sunk in a bit when I made contact with it. It was so soft and sleep-inducing. I turned to Link and shyly put my hand on his arm.

"You tired?" I asked him. He opened his eyes, shining those blue irises at me, and grinned.

"I'm always tired. I think I might fall asleep any minute now. You tired?"

"Always," I said back to him with a grin of my own. We were always in sync strangely enough. Hearing my reply, he reached over and turned off the light that emitted from the lamp. Without it, the room was filled with a calm darkness that made sleep even more enticing. I couldn't see Link, but I could feel him close to me; his face inches away from mine. When he spoke his voice came out soft and gentle.

"Happy birthday, Scarlett."

I was right. I could feel his warm breath on my cheeks.

"Thank you, Link. G-Goodnight…" I said. I couldn't think of anything else to say even though I wanted to say more. But it will have to do. I'm so exhausted right now. I fell asleep shortly after I thanked the boy next to me. Before I felt myself drift away, I felt him lean his head into my neck affectionately. In response, I let my cheek rest against the top of his head as I fell asleep. I think sleep helps people get rid of their shyness for another person just for that brief moment before actually falling asleep. In our case, we were practically cuddling right now. And you know what? I was totally okay with that…

* * *

The next morning, I woke up with my face in Link's chest and my hand on his arm. I jumped a little when I realized it. Luckily, Link was still asleep so it wouldn't turn into this awkward scene between us. I didn't want to move away from him though. His body felt so strong and the gentle rising of his chest was hypnotic. Like I said, I just wanted to stay in this position forever. That is until my body naturally reacted to his sudden voice in the worst way possible.

"S-Scarlett…?" He muttered sleepily. I gasped and rolled over to my side of the bed so he wouldn't see me on top of him like that. With my luck, however, I misread the width of my side of the bed and ended up falling off the side. I hit the wooden floor hard and just laid there in disbelief. I'm such a fucking idiot...Sometimes...I can't even…

"Scarlett?"

Link sounded more awake that time and when I sat up I saw that he was rubbing his eyes.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He asked with a short laugh.

"I fell," I mumbled, losing that happiness I felt when were cuddling a few seconds ago. He laughed again, this time sympathetically, and reached his hand out to me.

"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded, taking his hand and standing up beside the bed. I'm awake now! What a hell of an alarm! Link slowly got out of bed and yawned like he always did whenever he woke up. He loved to sleep and was usually tired most of the time. I don't blame him. Who doesn't love sleep?

"Hey, so...I'm gonna go talk to Yeto and see if we can go see that mirror," he said, moving to the door. I nodded and starting putting on my gear.

"Good luck with that," I laughed. We discussed this last night, but we were both pretty sure that we would be in this mansion a lot longer than previously thought. Sure enough, when Link returned he had a scowl on his face. He walked over to his sword and shield and slung them over his shoulder like he was about to go to battle. He didn't say anything so I asked him what Yeto told him.

"Basically, he said that Yeta went up to the third-floor bedroom to wait for us instead of leading us to the bedroom like she said she would. I mean, I don't blame her. She probably just forgot. She's not the problem. The problem is that Yeto said that we would be able to find our way up to the bedroom by ourselves. You know what that means...That means that this mansion is another freaking dungeon in disguise!" He screamed dramatically. It would be funny if he weren't so serious.

"Did you ask him if we could guide us up there anyway?" I asked. He sighed and brushed his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, about three time actually. He just laughed it off and continued to cook that soup we had last night. I don't think he ever stopped stirring that pot the whole night! Who does that!?" He yelled. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

"Oh come on, look at the bright side. We get to explore this beautiful mansion! And...who cares what we have to do as long as we're together, right?" I asked. That last sentence came out kind of quiet. I saw his cheeks turn red for a second before he responded.

"I guess so…" He told me with the roll of his eyes.

"Oh hush," I said, walking over to him to flick him on the forehead, "let's just find a way to the bedroom before anything attacks us. And if anything _does_ attack us, then we'll be just fine fighting it off by ourselves," I continued. I sure was confident. But why wouldn't I be? This mansion can't have that many dangerous things in it; if it did it would be inhabitable.

Going to the kitchen, Link and I found Yeto still putting different ingredients and spices in the huge cooking pot. If he's been doing that all night that soup has to be the best soup in the world by now! His eyes lit up when he saw us enter the kitchen, so we stopped to talk to him for a minute.

"Good morning Yeto! Thank you for the soup and the cake! It was really good!" I said to him cheerfully. He smiled and laughed loudly.

"You welcome! Ha! Ha! Happy birthday!" He yelled in his bold, booming voice.

"Thank you," I said again before moving on to a different subject, "Umm...Now we were planning on going to see that piece of mirror. Since you're...busy with the soup...can you tell us which way it is to get there?" I asked him kindly. He nodded and pointed at the door to the right of the one that led to the room with the big fireplace in it.

"Yeah! Go through door and follow path of doors. Yeta bedroom at end!" He instructed us before going back to his cooking. He seemed very happy experimenting with all the ingredients he had around him. We didn't want to distract him any longer, so we thanked him and then went to the door he pointed us towards. I was the first to enter the room and the cold air immediately hit my skin like needles.

"Holy crap, it's so cold in here! Why!?" I yelled, rubbing my arms. The room was made out of just stone blocks and tiles. There was a moderately-sized square in the middle of the room made of ice with two big metal blocks on both sides of it. If that wasn't weird enough, there were even icicles hanging from the ceiling!

"I'm not sure but the path Yeto told us to follow is blocked apparently," Link said back to me, looking at the door to the next room. It was blocked by what looked like a curtain of metal. Who put that there!? Midna had to come out of Link's shadow to give us a clue on how to get out of this room. I knew it had something to do with the ice square in the middle of the room but I didn't see the switch that was at the end of it.

" _Guys, I think you need to move one of these metal blocks on that switch. So...Let's see...Okay, move this one this way…"_

She was telling link where to push his metal block while I got on the other side of the ice square to push my block. Link pushed his from one side to the other. Then, Midna told me to push mine to the other side so I did. It didn't reach the other side because there was a block made of ice in the very corner of my side so it stopped in the middle of it. Then, I had to push the block to Link's side of the square which wasn't as difficult as you might think it is. The blocks weren't that heavy, so they were easy to push across the ice. Well actually, I think the ice made it seem easier to push but whatever. You know what I mean. Anyway, once my block was on Link's side of the ice square all I had to do was push it against the block that he had pushed to the corner and then push it on the switch that sat right beside it. When the block landed on the switch, the curtain of metal over the blocked door lifted out of sight, giving us access to the next room. Again, why does this kind of thing always happen to Link and me? It's kind of annoying sometimes.

"Thanks, Midna. You were a great help," Link said with a grin. Midna rolled her eyes at him but smiled as she went back into her shadow. Link and I gave each other a happy glance before going on to the next room. Well, I guess I shouldn't say room since it was actually a door that led to the outside of the mansion. It was like a courtyard in the middle of the home with its own hallway next to it. There was a hole in the wall on the side of the hallway while the only way to the other side of the hallway was blocked by an ice structure. Seeing as how our path was blocked AGAIN, we went through the hole in the wall that led outside to the actual courtyard. The temperature out here was freezing! Link and I were both shivering even though I had my jacket on. I wonder if it stays like this all year long…

"Hey Scarlett, is that the bedroom up there?" Link asked me, pointing up at a tower in front of us. I looked up and saw that there was a spiral staircase on the outside of the tower that led to a large bedroom door. The door was chained with a huge heart-shaped lock. How cute. And bingo! That's where we needed to go. The only problem was how were we going to get up there?

"I think so. And look, there's a door that leads to the other side of the hallway," I told him, nodding at a door that looked to be behind where that ice structure was. Okay good, this hasn't been that hard so far. I could be regretting those words later though. You never know what could be in these sorts of places. Going into the other side of the hallway, I just proved myself right. In between us and the next room, there were two small iceberg monsters that had a glowing red eye on the front of them. When Link and I entered the hallway they started moving towards us and it was pretty creepy.

"Link, what are those?"

"I don't know but let's just try walking around them," he said. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Walk around them? That won't work…" I stopped talking when Link just hopped over both the icebergs and stood at the door waiting for me. He was just looking at me with a smug look on his face. I found it more cute and funny than aggravating. I followed his example and hopped over the weak little iceberg monsters.

"You never cease to amaze me," I told him.

"That's a good thing!" He said with a laugh as we walked into the next room. The floor in this room was covered completely in ice. We almost slipped when we came in. I had to hold on to Link and he had to hold on to me. I didn't mind though...Looking up, there were more of those iceberg monsters in the room, three to be exact. Link and I would just hop over them like last time, but the ice-covered floor made that kind of difficult. I looked at the boy next to me and unsheathed my sword.

"We'll just have to kill these," I said.

"I agree," he replied as we both slashed at the iceberg enemies that had been moving towards us ever since we got in the room. They looked creepy and a little bit scary, but they took no effort to kill. We were in the next room in no time. Fortunately for us, this room was a lot warmer and there wasn't any ice in here.

"Thank Hylia!" Link said, rubbed his hands together to warm them up. I smiled and looked around the room. The only thing worth noting was that there was a big chest in the room. Could it be another weapon for us? That would be awesome!

"Link, you need to tolerate cold temperatures better," I told him with a playful smirk. His mouth dropped open and he instantly got defensive.

"What!? Thirty seconds ago you were complaining about how cold it was in the courtyard! YOU need to tolerate cold temperatures better!" he screamed. I giggled and took a step forward to see what was inside the chest. You know...I was going to ignore what Link said and then he would get even more annoyed with me like I always do but no! As soon as I took my step, two ice soldiers dropped from the ceiling and pointed spears at us! What the hell!? How rude…

"Didn't expect that," he muttered to me.

"I did somehow. Somewhere back in my mind I knew some dumb shit like this was going to happen to us sooner or later," I said back to him. The ice monsters charged us with their spears, but we were both quick to get out of the way of their attack. Link and I both slashed our master swords at their backs and they screeched in pain from the hit. They didn't seem to be going down anytime soon though. We did the same thing a couple more times and nothing happened. Link sighed low in his throat before perking up suddenly.

"Hey Scarlett, let's try that new move Shade taught us!" He yelled to me from across the room. I tilted my head and then blocked another attack from the ice monsters before replying to him.

"The mortal draw!?"

"No, the Helm Splitter!"

The Helm Splitter? Okay, well if he thinks it will work. To perform the Helm Splitter we have to hit our enemies with our shields and then, while they're knocked back, we do a front flip over them while slashing our swords at their heads. It's hard to do, but it came almost naturally to Link and me. I guess it was because we were the chosen hero and heroine. The both of us performed the hidden skill on our ice enemies in perfect sync and they fell to the ground, shattering into tiny pieces of ice.

"Wow, it worked!" I yelled in excitement. Link grinned again and looked proud that his plan worked.

"It's all thanks to Shade! Now what's in that chest?" He asked as he walked over to it. It's...It's...An Ordon pumpkin? Yeah! It was just a simple Ordon pumpkin! Link just stared at it before throwing it down at the floor.

"Those two things were guarding this!? I could get one of these at my village whenever I want! It's in the name! ORDON pumpkin! Wow, what a load of shit."

"Link! Don't waste food! But yeah, that was super lame. You have to wonder though. Who put the pumpkin in the chest in the first place?" I asked. He just bowed his head in defeat so I had to give him a hug to make him feel better. Link likes to make people think he's this heroic, strong man...which he is...but to me he's a big softie. He needs me to comfort him every so often and I love doing it so don't judge! I need comfort too you know...I cry sometimes...Not often but sometimes! Okay not really, but I bet Link would be so sweet to me if I just started to cry in front of him. The last time I really cried was when my arm got burnt by that pipe in the Goron Mines. That hurt so much and he did everything he could do to make me feel better. I just wish I realized I had feelings for him then and not yesterday.

"Ugh...Let's just go to the next room," he said after I gave him a hug. I nodded and followed him to the next room. This was another disappointment because it was the very same room we first came into! The one with the ice square and metal blocks! We were just higher on this platform that we could just simply jump down from, which we did.

"I hope there's a different way to go," Link muttered under his breath as we went inside the kitchen. Yeto was still cooking so the picture was exactly the same as it was like thirty minutes ago.

"You no find bedroom?" Yeto asked us.

We shook our heads no.

"Nope. Is there another way? Please tell me there is," Link told him. Yeto smiled and nodded, pointing at the room with the giant fireplace.

"There door in there too. Try that. Yeto sorry for that!" He said to us. Link smiled and gave the yeti a thumbs up.

"Nah, it's cool. We'll see if this way works."

We walked to the room where Yeta used to be but she wasn't here anymore. I think Yeto said she went to the bedroom. If she can get up there then we definitely can! On the far right corner of the room there was a door that we haven't been through so we took that route. It led out to the courtyard but in a different area of it. Link turned to me to speak but he was cut off by an enemy attacking him. In an instant, a solid white wolf lunged at him and pushed him to the ground. It was the same type of wolf that we saw on the mountain trail!

"Holy-...Get off him!" I screamed, hitting the wolf with my sword as fast as I could. It vanished into a white puff of smoke and was gone just like that. Link exhaled a sigh of relief and laid his head back into the snow. I got on my knees beside him and rested my hand on his chest.

"Link, are you alright!? Did he bite you!?" I asked in a panic. He shook his head and took another deep breath.

"No, I'm fine. It just knocked the wind out of me. Thanks, by the way," he said as he sat up. I smiled and breathed my own sigh of relief. Monsters, if they ever catch us by surprise, attack Link first every single time. Why is that? I hate to see him get hurt...This time he didn't so I'm grateful for that. We both stood up together and looked out into the snowy courtyard. There wasn't any more wolves so I think the coast is clear. While there were no monsters here anymore, there was this cannonball-looking machine to the right of us. That was certainly interesting to me. I walked over to it and looked around it to see how it worked. There was a hole where you could put your cannonball and then another hole to shoot the cannonball out of. To move the machine, there were levers on both sides of it so that you could rotate it 360 degrees. My thinking is that this is used to break ice when it gets too thick like the ice that was blocking us in the hallway. That's the only logical thing I can think of for this contraption. I was...right...but the ice it was breaking was alive this time! I'm not even joking. Link pointed out where our next door was and when we discovered it we also discovered our next enemy. It was a huge ice monster that was attached to the door. He had multiple red glowing eyes instead of just one. However, unlike the smaller iceberg enemies, this one didn't move toward us. He stayed glued to the door and stared us down.

"You think he's going to attack us?" Link asked, not taking his eyes off the icey beast. I shook my head.

"No I don't think so. As long as we stay a good distance away from him we will be fine I think. We can use this to attack him though. I think when you put a cannonball of some kind in this bottom hole it will shoot out the top hole. So what can we use to put in here?" I asked, putting my hands on my hip. Link thought about it for a minute before he smiled with an idea.

"Bombs! We bought some back in Kakariko village, remember? We just haven't had to use them that often. Hey Midna?" He called out to her. She appeared before us and took out a couple of bombs she had in our "stash". Our "stash" was compiled of everything we've collected over our journey that we can't hold ourselves. That's one of the reasons why Midna is a great companion to have. Over time, we've become good friends too! She's snarky, but cool when you get to know her.

" _Finally I get to see these babies put to some good use. I'm gonna stay and watch this before going back into your shadow, Link,"_ she said with a toothy grin. He smiled and picked up a bomb.

"That's cool with us. We're glad to see you in a better mood," he said as he put the bomb in the bottom hole of the blaster. It immediately ignited like a lit match, and then shot the bomb out the top hole and at the gigantic ice monster. I'm sure he mentally pissed his pants before the bomb exploded his body into thousands of bits and pieces. This gave us passage to the next door and the witnessing of this awesome machine! Midna just loved it!

" _That was badass! Finally! Something to just make my day! Alright guys let's get that mirror piece so we can get the next two!"_ She cheered. It was so great to see her like this again. It was like she forgot she was depressed for just that moment. And all it took was the murdering of an ice monster by a bomb...A little violent...but...you know, whatever works to cheer her up. Sometimes, I imagine all the monsters we kill as having families of their own, and when we kill them we're effectively taking away the father that puts food on the table. It's quite scary to think about actually. But ever since we discovered that Zant created all these monsters just to stop us, I've felt a lot better about it. It's mine and Link's job to save Hyrule so that's what we're going to do. Our next step in doing that was to move on to the next room in the mansion. It was another hallway, but this particular hallway had two sets of knight's armor standing inside it.

"This isn't sketchy at all," I whispered to Link. He gave me a look as we walked around the knight's armor and moved to the door on the other side of the hallway. Nothing was happening so far. That didn't mean nothing was going to happen. I reached for the doorknob and before I could open the door the familiar curtain of metal fell in front of the door and blocked our access.

"Do you want to say 'shit' first or do you want me to?" Link asked me. That's when one of the knight's armor behind us broke apart from being hit by something heavy! Link and I turned around to see that the other knight's armor was alive now. It was like an evil spirit had taken possession of it! Wait a minute...there was something in there...it was a lizard! The thing he used to destroy the second knight's armor was a menacing-looking ball and chain. The ball was about the size of maybe four Hylian soccer balls put together if you can imagine that. It was pretty big and it was attached to a metal chain. The lizard lifted the ball in chain and began swinging it over his head rapidly.

"I'll say it…Shit…" I said to the boy next to me. Usually we had time to form a strategy but this time our enemy was fast. He swung the ball at us and we both lifted up our shields as protection. The hall was so narrow that the ball ended up hitting both our shields, causing Link and I to fly back into the door. We slid down it as we both grunted from the impact. I felt like coughing up blood but none came up. Link quickly got up and helped me up before glaring at the ball and chain wielder.

"Let's see if this works," he muttered to himself. He turned to me and took my hand. "I need you to distract him for just a few seconds! Okay?"

I nodded and raised my shield again.

"Yeah, I got this."

He nodded and then turned to the lizard again. The lizard inched its way over to us every few seconds but the swinging of the ball and chain was constant. To get his attention, I moved closer to him and started yelling generic things to him like "hey" or "over here". While I was doing that, Link took the opportunity to sprint from behind me and slide underneath the lizard. The reptile was so tall that there was a big gap in between his legs, so Link successfully slid to the otherside with no problem whatsoever. The lizard, I guess, didn't see him so he kept his eyes on me the whole time. He swung the ball at me again, but I was able to dash to the side to avoid getting hit by it.

"Take this you bastard!" Link yelled as he slashed at the lizard's tail that had been sticking out of the armor. The realization hadn't come to me until now that the monster's tail was the only thing unprotected by his armor. It's a good thing Link is so observant. The narrow hallways were both a pro and a con for the lizard; the pro being that he could hit us more easily, and the con being that he couldn't turn around in time to counter Link's attacks even if he tried. He was just too large. This gave Link the ability to attack his tail until the lizard couldn't take it any longer. He screeched loudly, making my sensitive ears ring, and then fell to the ground. Like every other monster we've defeated, he blew up in a puff of black smoke and was gone for good. I think that's how we can tell whether a monster was created by Zant or not. The black smoke they blow up in must be a pinch of Zant's evil power. That or Ganondorf's...I still don't know much about the him though.

"Damn…" Link whispered as he put his hand on his back. I did the same since that last blow to us hurt like hell. I walked over to him and rubbed his back softly.

"You okay? That really hurt…" I said to him.

"Yeah, I'm alright. You?" He asked as he rubbed my back as well. I nodded and took a deep breath since I felt like my breathing become hitched by the attack. Everytime I took a breath it hurt just a little. But not too much so it was okay. I looked down at the place where the lizard was and it looked like he had dropped his ball and chain for us.

"Other than our back pain," I said laughing, "That went well! That was a pretty good idea. As always, Link!"

He chuckled and crouched down beside the heavy weapon.

"Nah, you give me too much credit."

"Well you deserve it. You're really smart! You think we can use that somehow?" I asked, crouching down beside him. He shrugged and handed me the chain to see if I could lift it. I was able to but it took a lot of effort and I don't think I would be able to swing it or throw it at a monster. Link, on the other hand, might be able to. He tried lifting it and he flexed his muscles next to me. My face went completely red and my heart raced as he stood up with the ball and chain in his hand.

"Piece of cake," he said with a grin. I knew he could do it. He's so strong…

"Awesome! You think we could use it as a weapon?" I asked him. He nodded and then hummed in thought.

"I think this might actually be a weapon for us specifically. You know, a hero's weapon. It's possible that that lizard found it in here and started using it against anybody he fought with."

"Yeah, but if that were the case wouldn't there be two? One for you and one for me like there usually is?" I asked in curiosity.

"Well I don't think so since you had trouble lifting it. Maybe this is just for me and then later on we'll find a weapon just for you if that makes sense," he told me. It did make sense. There was no way I could use this ball and chain by myself so it sounded true. Then again, why would the gods make specific weapons just for one of us? I'll ask Shade the next time we see him if I remember.

"It does. So...You want to get moving?" I asked.

"Y-Yeah! My bad! Let's get going. That curtain of metal over the door is gone now," he said as we walked over to the door and entered the next room. It was another outdoor hallway in the courtyard, just a different area. There was a ladder at the very end of it, but me and Link decided to go to the door that was next to it instead just to see where it led. In here, it was a huge room with a spiral trail that we could walk up. There was a tall cage that the spiral path went around, and inside the cage was another one of those large ice monsters. This time, he did try to attack us with his "snow breath". I assume it would burn if we touched it.

"Try using the ball and chain on him, Link," I suggested. His eyes lit up at my idea and he gripped the heavy ball in his hands before slowly swinging it. He let the ball fly into the monster after waiting for the right moment and it caused the ice monster to shatter into nothing.

"Okay! That worked out perfectly! We can break ice with it!" He said happily. He then frowned and set the ball on the ground, "it's really heavy though…"

" _I'll hold it for you until you need it again,"_ Midna told him, snapping her fingers. The ball and chain disappeared just like that! The power of magic!

"Thanks again, Midna!" Link exclaimed as we walked up the spiral path.

" _Yeah yeah…"_ She replied, going into his shadow. Link and I smiled at each other and then looked up at the top of the spiral path. It was another cannonball blaster. I was confused, however, because there was a wall around it. You can't shoot at a wall obviously! So when we got up to the blaster I turned around and saw a wall of ice in the wall opposite of us. Ah-ha! It's just clicked! Without even speaking my idea, I took a bomb out that Midna had given to us and inserted it into the blaster. The bomb shot at the ice and it broke, revealing a new path for us in our journey to get to Yeto and Yeta's personal bedroom! Gods, this is so ridiculous…

"Okay then," Link laughed.

"Well seeing as how we couldn't reach the ball and chain up there, I just figured I would go ahead and shoot a bomb up there," I told him with a proud expression on my face. He snorted and lifted up his fist for me to bump with my own. I did and we proceeded to climb up the very thin edge that the gap in the wall gave us. We had to help each other out on it. Link helped me up first and then I helped him get up on the ledge. This led us into another empty room with one single door in it. Behind that door was the outside. Here, we were on the second floor of the mansion. Geez, so many rooms in this place.

"We're getting closer. I can feel it," I said to Link as I shivered. It was seriously cold out here.

"Yeah, the bedroom is in the tower over there so we just need to find a way to it from here. We're off the ground so that's a good start. Uhh...Umm…" Link stopped talking and started to fidget in place. I gave him a weird look and he looked embarrassed.

"What?"

"Uhh...well...I gotta pee," he said with a nervous laugh. I rolled my eyes and giggled. He was so cute.

"Just go over there in the corner and pee on the snow then. I won't look," I said, pointing at the other side of the courtyard. He slowly nodded and walked over there awkwardly as if he thought I was staring at him the whole time. Midna came out of his shadow and shook her head.

" _Yeah, I'm going to Scarlett's shadow now. I don't need to be seeing your dick, Link,"_ she said.

"Midna! Shut up!" He screamed as he ran over to the corner. Midna laughed evilly as she floated over to me in her darkened form. I was still laughing from what she said when she reached me.

" _So I haven't been able to talk to you about this, but I think now would be a good time since he's...draining the lizard over there...So, last night when Link gave you your cake, happy birthday by the way, I couldn't help but notice that you gave him a hug. And when you gave him a hug you had this look on your face. I can't quite describe it...Want to tell me about that?_ " she asked me with a smirk on her face. Oh my gods, does she know about my crush? Why else would she be smiling like that?

"I was just happy that he remembered my birthday is all," I said bluntly. Her yellowish-red eyes flashed with skepticism and she quickly retorted with one word.

" _Bullshit."_

"Okay I like him okay! In fact, I love him! I'm in love with Link! Happy!?" I yelled, looking over to make sure Link didn't hear me. He was still over in the corner peeing. Midna crossed her arms and smiled even more.

" _I knew it. It's about damn time."_

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head.

" _Scarlett, honey, it is so obvious. The way you two talk to each other and act around each other. And it's not just that. Being from the Twilight Realm, we have this thing where we can sense a person's hormones. You know, it helps with parenting and knowing when to buy tamp-...Nevermind but you catch my drift. And you two are just so clueless that it kills me. Like it literally kills me. You need to tell him how you feel!"_ She yelled at me. I felt like fainting. Hormones!? What kind of power is that!?

"I can't…" I said to her. She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

" _What do you mean you can't?"_

"I'm too shy...but I'm going to try to get him to like me back, I said, still blushing from everything we were saying. She had a sour look on her face like I said something wrong and she would have told me it but Link was jogging back to us. Midna glanced at him, rolled her eyes, and with a huff went into my shadow.

"Hey! Sorry, I really had to go," Link laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. I put on a smile that was to the contrary of what I had on my face while talking to Midna and threw my hand down.

"No, you're fine. I'm surprised I don't have to go. We've been at it for like an hour and a half I think. But yeah, let's keep on going. I see another blaster over there." I pointed at said blaster and Link turned to look at it. I hope my face has gone back to its original color by now. Damn you, Midna!

"Yeah that makes sense because I see an ice monster over near the foot of the third bedroom tower. Can't have that!" He said as he jogged over to the blaster and put a bomb in it. I followed him and we both watched the bomb blow up the ice monster in our path. Now, all we had to do was get over to that side of the second floor in the courtyard. We tried going around the perimeter but the floor was blown away. It just led to one of the hallways on the first floor. But there's hope! This hallway has a ladder in it. Ring a bell? We entered this hallway earlier and went into the door beside the ladder instead of going up it.

"Here, I'll help you down," Link said to me. He took my hand and held it tightly as I slowly jumped down into the hallway again. Holding his hand reminds me of how grateful I am for having gloves on. They would have frozen off by now!

"Thank you, Link."

"No problem," he said, jumping down after me. As we were climbing the ladder up to the second floor again, he started laughing to himself. That was either a good thing or a bad thing. I asked him about it.

"Nothing's wrong, I was just thinking. There's a huge monster at the end of every single major place we go through. Every single one. This is one of those places. So what do you think the big, scary monster will be? Yeta?" He bended over in laugher and I couldn't help but snicker.

"That would be so dumb," I said.

"I know, but it's funny to imagine," he said as we reached the base of the bedroom tower. There was a door to the left of us and then the bedroom straight up the spiral pathway. We couldn't exactly go to the bedroom just yet because we needed a key for the heart-shaped lock chained up on the door. That meant we were going in the door to the left first. I gasped in awe when I saw the room we entered in. It looked like a big chapel. There were countless rows of pews in here with a wooden podium at the front. I guess Yeto and Yeta practice the same religion as us? I don't know. Who cares?

"It's beautiful!" I gasped, putting my hands on my cheeks.

"You like churches?" Link asked in an ingratiating manner. I nodded.

"Yeah. I love looking at the stained glass windows of Hylia and all that. She was so pretty."

"Aren't you, being the chosen heroine and all, modeled after her in a way?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, I think so. Does that mean you're calling me pretty?" I questioned him, just teasing. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, of course you're pretty," he replied. That made me really happy. I couldn't stop smiling. And seeing me smiling made Link smile real big too. I brushed a part of my braided bangs to the side out of habit, and looked around. Link and I were alone in here...And...We could do anything. We could say anything. Catch my drift? I looked at him and he was looking up at the icicles hanging from the ceiling. The faint snow falling in from the holes in the roof brightened up his water-blue eyes. I mean, right now would be the perfect moment to confess my feelings to him. But...Not yet. My throat has become dry and even if I tried to speak I doubt any words would actually come out of my mouth. That, and my heart is flying at the speed of light right now! That pisses me off because I really have no reason to be nervous or anything! We're just in here looking around. It's not like we're looking into each other's eyes and our faces are so close we could almost be kissing. It's not even like that and my heart is still racing. My body seriously hates me…

"There's a chest behind the podium over there. Let's see if the bedroom key is in it," he said, walking over to it while I stayed in my place in the middle of the church. I watched him open the chest and pump his fist when he saw what was inside. "Yep! It's the key! Mission accomplished!"

"Thank Hylia! I would not want to backtrack through the mansion just to find a stupid key," I said.

"Me too. Look, even the key is heart-shaped," he said, lifting it up to show me.

"So adorable," I laughed as we walked back outside into the deathly-cold courtyard. To our surprise, Yeta was waiting just outside for us! I thought she was in the bedroom! And plus, how in the freaking world did she bypass all of those monsters and rooms we had to go through? Shit makes no sense in this mansion or in Hyrule as a whole for that matter!

"Oh! You're safe! I'm glad! Yeto's soup make me feel better so I come find you. I put lock on bedroom door after I left so no monsters would get inside. They get bad this time of year. I see you find bedroom key! I take you to bedroom just up path," she told us before starting up said spiral pathway, very slowly I may add. The explanation she gave made sense...mostly...so I'm not mad anymore. I'm just glad we actually made it up! Well, eventually we will. Yeta moved very slow up to the bedroom. That's okay since I don't expect her to run up there or anything. She's still sick and all so we have to be considerate. She even felt bad and told us to go ahead to the door and not worry about her. That just broke my heart a little bit.

"Oh no! It's fine, Yeta! There's really no rush," I told her with a smile. It would be really rude to just leave her and go up to the bedroom so we walked with her the whole way.

"You two are nice. I happy Yeto found you," she told us as we reached the top. Link inserted the key into the lock on the door and unlocked it for the three of us. The lock, being heart-shaped, broke in half when Link unlocked it. It looked like a heart split in half which gave me a really bad feeling for some reason. Foreshadowing much? Hopefully not. Yeta entered the room first, and Link and I followed behind her. The bedroom filled the whole tower so it was really big. A charming, red rug with golden trim covered the whole floor while the wall had artistically-designed pillars built into them. Other than that, the usual stuff you'd see in a bedroom was in here. That included a bed, a desk, a couple of dressers, some decorations, and a magnificent grandfather clock.

"You like room?" Yeta asked us with that kind smile of hers on her face. Link and I both nodded.

"Of course! Yeah it's beautiful, Yeta!" We told her.

"Thank you! I show you mirror now."

Alright this is what we came for. Could it really be this easy!? Yeta took us to the back of the room where the mirror was and looked into it deeply. It was the right mirror we were looking for so that was good. It was just a piece of it, but I will admit that it looked nice. It had a darker tint than most mirrors I've seen, and it even had ancient writing inscribed into it.

"Mirror so pretty...Very pretty...So lovely...So...Pretty...Pretty…" Yeta was staring at herself in the mirror shard and she was now repeating the word "pretty" over and over. To be quite honest, after the fifth time it was starting to become creepy. Yeta's face began twitching and she still continued to say "pretty" repeatedly. Link and I looked at each other and we both took a step back.

"Uh...Yeta? You okay?" Link asked hesitantly. She didn't answer him.

"Pretty...So pretty…" She kept on saying. She did that for ten more seconds before she suddenly stopped and went silent. This had to be the most uncomfortable silence I've ever been in. I'm not even kidding. I moved to see if she was okay, but she turned around before I could put my hand on her shoulder. I jumped back where Link was because of the face I saw in front of me. Instead of Yeta's usual innocent face, she had glowing red eyes and sharp fangs that would make even the toughest guard in Castle Town fall back in fright.

"NOT TAKE MIRROR!" She screamed as loud as she could. Then, as if a lever had been pulled, the glass in the windows around the tower broke. This caused the cold, snowy wind from outside to enter the bedroom at an impossibly fast rate, swirling around the room in a solid white vortex. The temperature in here now matched that of the outside as the vortex lifted Yeta off the ground. Link and I looked up as the wind got faster and faster. We both ran to the other side of the room and then got ready for a fight.

"I knew it. I fucking knew it," Link said as our final fight in this mansion began.

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

I knew this would happen. I really did. Zant's just screwing with us now. Taking possession of Yeta was really low, even for him. Then again, he was from the Twilight Realm. As far as I'm concerned, that's the darkest place that exists. I just wish that more people from there were more like Midna. But I can't think about that right now. Scarlett and I were about to find ourselves in a major battle again. Yeta above us was in this vortex-looking thing, and it looked like she was about to transform into something much bigger. As if on cue, the vortex disappeared and what was left was an enormous egg-shaped structure made of ice. The entire room transformed into ice as well, specifically the floor. Scarlett and I slipped out of surprise, but we were both standing before we even knew what happened.

"She's like a spinner made of ice," Scarlett said as we kept backing up from the transformed Yeta. Only it wasn't Yeta. Big words appeared above us like they always did in these major fights. I think it's only for Zant to taunt us even more.

 _ **Twilit Ice Mass: Blizzeta**_

Blizzeta? The name definitely fit. Yeta was now a deadly blizzard hurling at us. She slid across the ice like a never ending spinner, just how Scarlett had described her. She turned to me as Blizzeta bounced off wall after wall in front of us.

"She's made of ice so use the ball and chain!" She yelled. That was a great Idea! I called out to Midna for the weapon and it magically appeared in my hands . I told Scarlett to stand behind me while I did this and she quickly moved to safety. With a grunt, I started to swing the ball over my head and waited for the giant ice spinner to bounce its way over to us. It didn't take long. Blizzeta bumped into the back wall and came at us fast. It was now or never. I let the ball go in her direction and the ball smashed into her, creating a huge dent in her side. The sound of ice breaking echoed throughout the bedroom. I sent the ice spinner flying back and the ball returned to my hands.

"Good shot! Rinse and repeat!" Scarlett said behind me. I nodded and began swinging the ball and chain again. When Blizzeta came at me I hit her again and the same happened. However, this time, she came back at me too fast and I flinched just enough for her to have an opening against me. I dropped the ball and chain and raised my shield up in defense even though I knew this was probably going to hurt like a bitch anyway.

"I got it!"

"Huh?" I gasped. Scarlett lit and threw a bomb from behind me and managed to knock Blizzeta back before she could hit me. It didn't make a huge blow to her, but it was enough to save me. I turned to her, picking up my ball and chain, and grinned.

"Thanks, Scarlett! That was awesome!"

"Well I can't just stand here and do nothing. I'll knock her back whenever you need me to!" She told me, taking out another bomb. I smiled and shook my head.

"I don't think I will since this should be the last hit!" I yelled as I swung the ball and hit Blizzeta for the third time. I thought she was going to be defeated but she expanded instead! Of course I was wrong...The sides of the spinner edged out like an umbrella and what came from those edges were ten of those small iceberg-like monsters.

"I'll take those out! You focus on Yeta!" Scarlett said to me, moving to attack a few to the side of us. My worry for her caused me to hesitate when Blizzeta started sliding at me once again so I jumped out of the way this time. She bounced off the wall behind me and charged at Scarlett in an instant. Oh shit! I screamed at her to warn her, but she was too busy fending off all the iceberg monsters that were attacking her. She only saw Blizzeta coming at the last second, and was knocked into the wall from being hit by her. My blood went cold as I saw her hit the wall. She yelped in pain and her eyes watered as she hit the icey floor again.

"Scarlett!" I screamed again, running to her as fast as I could. In a rage, I killed every single monster that were moving to attack her while she was down. I wasn't going to let them hurt her. I already failed to keep Blizzeta busy, the least I could do was kill these little bastards. Blizzeta continued to bounce off the walls behind me but not towards me, giving me enough time to get to Scarlett. I laid her in my lap on her back and looked into her eyes. She wasn't unconscious, but she did have a pained look on her face.

"Scarlett, I'm so sorry! That was my fault! I didn't-..." I tried to say whatever I could to make this better. I knew I was failing miserably. Fortunately, she knew what I was trying to do. She stopped my voice with her own.

"Link...It's okay...Ugh...I'm fine…" She said, wincing. She sat up and held her stomach as I cradled her in my arms. "I feel like crying though. My back and stomach hurt really bad. But...I'll be okay…"

I shook my head and brought her closer. She felt like crying from the pain, but I felt like crying from seeing her get injured in front of me. I hugged her gently and was careful not to hurt her fragile body.

"I'm so sorry…" I whispered again. I know she wants me to stop saying that but I can't. I can't really explain it. She let out a small laugh and put her hand on my cheek.

"You're always so sweet, Link...Please don't feel guilty…" She said as we stood up together. I looked at her sadly and then down at the ground. I was keeping an eye on Blizzeta and it was like she was waiting for us to get back on our feet. I glared at her and then looked at the girl in front of me.

"Then...let me get payback for you at least…"

Scarlett, looking better than she did, smiled and nodded.

"Okay. Get her good for me," she said. That's all I needed to hear. I picked up my ball and chain and ran towards Blizzeta this time. The adrenaline in my body, it felt like, gave me super strength! I was able to both run and swing the ball and chain at the same time!

"Take this!" I yelled, hitting Blizzeta as hard as I could with the big metal ball. The ice in the spinner shattered and Yeta came out of it in her original form. She slammed back into the wall and looked at us in fear. It lasted only for a second before she shrieked at us. She resembled a vampire as she lifted back up into the air. Were we not done? The cold wind swirled around her like it had before, except this time she formed into a throne-shaped ice structure with ten smaller spinners surrounding her. I'm just about sick of ice right about now. I turned to Scarlett to see her reaction.

"You okay?" I asked once again.

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt as much anymore. And what you did was really cool. She just won't go down! So what should we do about this? She's in the air now. You want to split up? You run that way and I run this way?" She suggested, nodding to her left.

"Yeah sure, let's try it. If it doesn't work we regroup," I told her before running to the right. She ran to the left and Blizzeta became pissed. She sent five spinners to Scarlett and then five to me. They were sent flying at us from above and landed in the ground wherever they thought we would be. As long as we kept running we would be safe. Without any spinners, Yeta's possessed body tried to hit me but I dashed out of the way before I could. The ice kind of helped since we slid faster across it. With Yeta now on the ground, I was able to hit her with my ball and chain.

"Get. Out. Of. Her. Body!" I screamed, hitting the throne ice structure as hard as I could. I expected it to hit the wall like everything else in this damn bedroom did, but all of the ice just disappeared in the blink of an eye. The ice on the floor turned back to its former self while the cold wind went away. The fractured mirror piece was left behind while Yeta laid on the floor unconscious. Her face was back to normal, thank Hylia. I hope we didn't hurt her too bad.

"I'm glad that's over…" Scarlett said, running over to me.

"Agreed. You think Yeta is okay?"

"I think so," she replied as she walked over to the female yeti, "she's breathing normally and she doesn't appear hurt. We should explain what happened when she wakes up. What happened to the mirror?" She asked me, looking around for it. Midna came out of her shadow and used her magical orange hair to pick up the mirror.

" _It's right here, Scarlett. Now we have two mirror shards. Just two more to go...Still...I feel bad about what happened to Yeta. I did not know that the Mirror of Twilight had such a power on ordinary people. To think that this one shard gave her the power to do what she just did. You two alright?"_ She asked. We nodded. _"Good. I realize now that we have to find those remaining mirror shards as soon as possible. We need to before they affect more innocent people like this one did with Yeta. Come on you two, She will be-"_

"Yeta!"

We all looked at the bedroom door to see Yeto standing there. He took up the entire door with his size and his eyes were wide with shock filling his pupils. He ran over to his wife and knelt beside her. The size difference was staggering.

"Yeta...You dreaming?" He asked her softly. I say softly, but this was Yeto we were talking about. His voice still came out louder than the average person's...or Yeti's...Yeta's eyes opened slightly and she frowned.

"Uh...What happened…?"

"You just dreaming," he said to her.

"Yeto! Mirror you gave!" She yelled as soon as she came to her sense. She turned to look at the wall where the mirror shard used to be propped up but it wasn't there. Midna had it now. Yeto shook his head and turned her face to look at him.

"Mirror don't matter. Look in Yeto's eyes. Reflection is true beauty, Yeta," he said. Right beside me, Scarlett touched her chest with an emotional expression on her face. Damn, Yeto had some game! Yeta was now beaming as she looked into her husband's eyes. "...Who need mirror? You love of life," he finished passionately. He embraced her into a loving hug and I have to say, even I felt like saying "awww". The mood in the room had turned from fearful to completely romantic. Yeto and Yeta's love was so strong that a heart-shaped container flashed onto the floor in front of us. The room's color turned from grey to a lovestruck red. It was freaking awesome. I found myself blushing just standing next to Scarlett. I was in love with her and the scene we were in looked like Valentine's Day in physical form. I glanced at Scarlett and she was blushing as well.

"They are such a perfect couple…" She whispered. She then looked at me and smiled. Her green eyes stared into my blue ones for a second before she sighed.

"Oh come here!" She said happily, bringing me into a hug and kissing me on the cheek. I gasped quietly but quickly hugged her back. I knew she was just "in the moment" but it felt so right to be in her arms and her in mine. When she pulled back, she laughed and brushed her hair behind her air. Her laugh was always so beautiful.

"S-Sorry...I was...I was just...in the moment! Yeah...in the moment…" She muttered, not looking directly at me. Yeah, see? I knew it was just because of that. I was still happy though.

"It's cool, I know. T-They really are a good couple huh?"

"Mhmm," she hummed. She looked over at the heart container and went to pick it up. Midna, who was floating beside me, was shaking her head. She looked so...furious. Why?

"Here," Scarlett said, breaking the glass heart for the both of us. The red essense inside it flowed through my body and I felt like a new man every time we found one of these. Any pain that we had from the battle was now gone.

" _Okay guys, come on,"_ Midna said to us with a roll of her eyes. She formed a portal for us to teleport out of here and we both entered through it. Yeto and Yeta waved to us after we thanked them for everything and we were soon back at the entrance of Castle Town. It was so much warmer here! I loved it! From here, we would go to Telma's bar to seek out our next location. But first…

"Sweet sweet grass and warmth!" I screamed, jumping into the grass and flowers. Sorry, I had to do that. I stood up after having my moment and turned around to face the two girls behind me. They were giving each other looks like they were mad at each other. Again, why? Midna saw that I was looking at her and held up two fingers.

" _Hold on, Link. Scarlett and I need to talk for a second. Go play in the grass some more,"_ she said. She snapped her fingers and my hearing went away completely. My eyes went wide and I felt my ears with my hands. What the hell!? She made me freaking deaf! Her and Scarlett were talking about something but I had no idea what. I was also really bad at reading lips so I was forced to just wait this whole thing out. And no, I wasn't going to play in the grass again. Rolling around in the grass was kind of like going swimming. It's so much better when you have someone to do it with you...

" _I can't believe you didn't confess right there. THAT WAS THE PERFECT MOMENT! Like, Holy Hylia Scarlett! What the hell is wrong with you!? You started off strong by hugging him and kissing him on the cheek, BUT THEN you back up and apologize for it!? What were you thinking!?"_ Minda screamed.

"I wanted to! I did! I just...couldn't. I was freaking out on the inside too much! I'm sorry! I know it was the perfect moment but I will tell him! Eventually!" She replied.

" _Ugh, don't be afraid to tell him! If you don't, I will! Okay I won't because this is personal for you but come on girl! You've got a piece of the Triforce of Courage inside you! Did the Gods not intend for you to fall in love or something!? That's bullshit!"_ Midna screamed at Scarlett. Scarlett sighed and shook her head.

"Just give me time...I know what I'm doing...Can you give Link his hearing back, please? He looks like he's about to beat the shit out of someone."

Midna rolled her eyes again and snapped her fingers. My hearing came back to its normal status and I felt so much better. I was peeved that they took me out of the conversation though! I pointed at them and demanded them to tell me what they talked about.

"What were you two saying!?" I yelled. They looked at each other before Scarlett gave me a small smile.

"It was just girl talk," she said, walking past me and flicking her long, blonde hair behind her shoulder. "Let's go to Telma's Bar before some bulblins attack us," she said as she crossed the bridge to Castle Town. I looked at Midna and she grinned before going into my shadow. I could already tell I was going to lose this battle so I huffed and followed Scarlett into town.

It probably wasn't all that important anyway…

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 **And that is the end of the chapter! Finally done! This took me the entire weekend to write. It really did. And the whole day to read and edit. I had some writer's block throughout and I cut half of the dungeon out to safe you guys from reading just summary of how to get through the mansion. But I've done that with every dungeon chapter so far. My story isn't going to be an exact copy of the game because I don't want it to be. But now you know. Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you guys think! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time!**


	25. Chapter 25: The Past Heroine

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter of Heroes of Twilight! I finished a chapter of my other story like right after the last chapter so this is coming way earlier than they usually do! I'm gonna see if I can finish this chapter within the weekend so we'll see how it goes. Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think so far. If you have an idea or something like that go ahead and PM me or just put it in a review. Either way, I'll give you credit for it. Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 25: The Past Heroine

 **(Link's POV)**

I had to run up to Scarlett to catch up with her. We were walking on the bridge that connected to the market side of the town.

"Come on, Scarlett! What were you guys talking about?" I asked one more time. I thought maybe if I kept asking she would eventually tell me what they were talking about. However, by this time I didn't really care that much. I wasn't going to freaking die if I didn't know what they were talking about so yeah. In response, she just gave me a look and the same smile she always had on her face.

"It was just girl stuff, Link. Girl stuff that involved body parts you don't have," she said, the tone in her voice hinting at something. I stopped asking after that because I honestly didn't want to hear about it if that was the case. I decided to change the subject.

"Okay, well anyway, we're going to see Telma now for the next location?" I asked as we entered Castle Town. She nodded and laughed at me.

"Yeah, are you okay with doing that? I know Telma kind of creeps you out with how she speaks and acts around you," she commented. I rolled my eyes and shrugged.

"I used to be, but after thinking about it I'm not as freaked out by her now. What is she going to do anyway? As long as you're there with me she's not going to do anything," I said, feeling really positive for some reason. I guess getting through that dangerous mansion in one piece boosted my ego in a way. Scarlett gave me a surprised look and put her hands behind her back as we walked through the market.

"Hmm...Well I'm glad you see it that way finally. I tried to tell you that nothing was going to happen when she started flirting with you, Link. But you can't blame her. Women just can't resist you," she said with a wink. I snorted but I still felt my face flush from what she said.

"Pshh, whatever. I don't know what you're talking about," I told her. All she did was smile and look down at the ground like she knew something I didn't. By this time, we had entered the alley where Telma's bar was and we turned down into the little square where the bar was located. Telma's white cat was walking around the front door and I picked it up to pet it.

"Hey there, kitty kitty," I said to her, scratching her behind the ear. She purred in my arms and leaned into my hand every time I moved to pet her. Scarlett grinned and rested her hand on the cat's back.

"She seems to like you, huh? I told you the pussies can't resist you," she said with a laugh. I shook my head and chuckled.

"That was so bad. Never say that again."

"I know," she laughed again, "I just had to. But she really does like you. She usually likes being alone," she said, meaning the cat. She probably figured that because every time we've come to Telma's bar the cat has always been away from everyone else. And whenever someone does want to pet her she hisses at them before they can even touch her. However, in my case, I actually know this cat and have talked to her before.

"Yeah, do you remember when Midna was injured by Zant and we had to go to Princess Zelda for help? And on the way we went through the sewers to get into Hyrule Castle? Well, the only reason I knew the route is because of this cat. I think her name is...Louise. Yeah! Louise! The first time I transformed into a wolf I ran into Louise and that's when she told Midna and I about the path to the sewers. Midna had asked her how to get back into the castle before we left Castle Town just in case we needed to see the princess again. It's a long...long story," I said, feeling exhausted at just the memory of that first day as a wolf.. The cat purred deeper in my arms in hearing that, basically saying that my story was true. Scarlett put her hand back down and looked at the entrance to the bar.

"How come you've never told me this before? How many secret adventures have you gone on, Link?" She inquired, looking back at me with a strong intensity in her eyes. I was pretty sure she was kidding, but the fire in her eyes said otherwise. It wasn't until she started laughing that I blew a sigh of relief.

"I'm kidding! But seriously, I think it would be kind of cool just to sit around and talk about some of our own personal adventures," she said with a smile, "the ones we haven't told each other of course."

"By sit around and talk, do you mean after we finish saving Hyrule," I asked, still petting Louise. I love animals so I spend as much time with them as I can. Scarlett shook her head at my question and lightly shrugged her shoulders.

"It doesn't have to be after that. Maybe just...around a nice fire before we go to bed for the night after a long day. These past couple of days we've been totally swamped with searching for the mirror fragments and fighting whatever monster gets in our way. I think...it would be nice just to relax and hang out with each other for one night," she finished with a wishful expression. Her tone was almost longing for the interaction between us. I understand what she's feeling right now. We've been busy ever since we got in the Gerudo Desert. We talk to each other, yeah, but we never really have the time to enjoy each other's company. If that makes sense…

"Yeah, I agree. You know what, wherever our next destination is, let's set up someplace to sleep for the night and just chill," I grinned. Scarlett's smile tilted upwards into an even bigger one and she took a step towards the front door of the bar.

"Okay," she muttered with a nod. It was short, but I could tell that she was extremely happy that I said that. Knowing that, I felt my whole body warm up with joy. As long as she's happy, I'm happy. I moved to open the door for her and she stuck her nose in the air like she thought this was expected of me to hold the door open for her. She walked in and I shook my head with a laugh before following her inside. It wasn't even close to being night yet so the bar wasn't very busy right now. Telma was at her usual place and she brightened up when she saw us enter her bar.

"Link! Scarlett! Come here! Come! Come!" She boomed. We walked over to her and she leaned over the counter to talk to us.

"So I hear you two went to Snowpeak recently. Ashei told me," she said to us with a wink. Scarlett and I nodded with Scarlett speaking first.

"Yes, and it was really cold! Link didn't bring a jacket so he was shivering the whole time," she laughed. Telma snickered at me and nudged my shoulder.

"Aww, did you not have a jacket!?" She asked. I frowned and shook my head.

"No, I just didn't think I needed one. Unfortunately, I did not know that it would be a frozen hell up there. You learn from your mistakes I guess," I said, smiling again. Telma nodded in agreement and crossed her arms over her bosom.

"I agree, that's a good way to look at it. Did you two go by Kakariko Village on your way back here, by any chance? I'm still worried about Ilia. You think her amnesia has gotten better? The last time I saw her she seemed to be doing well…" She muttered. She looked conflicted with herself like she had been thinking about this for a long time. At the mention of Ilia I frowned and looked down at the ground. At first, I was really mad at her for not remembering. I knew it wasn't her fault, but I just let my emotions get to me. When you've known a girl for as long as I've know Ilia and you had a crush on her, only for her to not even remember you...It hurts...I know I was in the wrong now, but back then I felt entitled to being mad at her. Now I just feel ashamed of myself. I never snapped at her or anything, but I knew I was being mean. I think if I didn't have such a crush on her back then then maybe I wouldn't have acted that way. Now I just see her as a long lost friend…

"No, but I hope she's okay," I said. Scarlett looked at me and traced her fingers along my upper back as a way to comfort me.

"Don't worry, honey. The look in your eyes says it all. I bet that Shaman, Renado, is whipping up a way to get her memory back right now! He's a very talented man. But like I said, sweetie, she'll be alright. You have worse things to worry about. The Resistance has another place of interest for you two. I think you'll find it mighty interesting," She said, curving her eyebrow to the backroom where Ashei and the others always had their meetings.

"Thank you, Telma. We'll keep in touch," Scarlett told her before we walked over to the back room. Telma nodded and looked to see a customer entering the bar. She resumed her daily duties as we met with The Resistance. There was the familiar table covered in a large map of Hyrule, as well as Ashei who was standing beside it. She was the only one here at the moment.

"Link? Scarlett? You made it through Snowpeak? How was it?" Ashei asked us, blinking in disbelief at our appearance in front of her. I took a seat in front of the map and proceeded to tell her everything that we encountered. I mentioned the mansion, the mountain trail, the ice enemies, and the mirror shard that we found. Ashei seemed fascinated by it all that she took out a pen and notepad and began jotting down bullet points. Her facial expression was completely void of any emotion though since she tended to keep to herself most of the time.

"Interesting...I knew Snowpeak was special. But who knew all of this would be up that mountain? And that mirror you guys were talking about. If you found it in the place I was looking at and the place Auru was looking at then The Resistance is right on track," she said; Auru being the man who helped us into Gerudo Desert.

"Right, thank you so much for helping us by the way," Scarlett said. Ashei nodded and smiled gently.

"It's our pleasure. Thank you for helping us achieve our goal. I assume you guys came to see if we had any other places we were looking at, right? We have two," she told us, holding up two fingers. "...There's the supposed 'Sky City' that Shad is looking at and a secret temple of some kind that Rusl is looking at," she finished.

Wait a minute...Did she just say Rusl?

"Rusl? Rusl from Ordon Village?" I asked. Ashei nodded.

"Yes, he marked down the spot on the map that he would be in so go ahead and take a look," she suggested. I looked down at the map and saw that he was close to the Forest Temple in Faron Woods. I knew exactly where that was. I looked back up at Ashei and stood up from the table.

"I think we'll go talk to Rusl first. Thanks again, Ashei."

"No problem. Tell me how it goes when you get back," she replied.

I promised her I would before Scarlett and I were on our way out again. We waved at Telma before exiting the bar and couldn't help but pet Louise one more time.

"Do you know Rusl or something?" Scarlett asked me. I put down the cat for the last time and nodded at her.

"Yes, do you remember the day we first met?" I asked. She smiled and nodded. "...that day we were trying to find Rusl to get you a sword and shield but he was off trying to find the kids from my village."

"Oh! I remember now. Damn, that was a long time ago," she said as we starting walking through the market to get out of Castle Town. I grinned, remembering the first time I saw Scarlett in the spring. She was so nice and cool, and she still is! I think we've really bonded ever since then. That wasn't surprising since we've literally stayed together the whole time since then but still. I took out our map to look for the direction of Faron Woods as we exited Castle Town. I pretty much knew the way, I was just making sure. That's when I saw the golden wolf symbol in an area near Kakariko Village. Shade! I almost forgot that we found a howling stone back in Snowpeak. I think it would be better if we went ahead and learned that sixth hidden skill before progressing to our next dungeon.

"Hey," I said to Scarlett. She looked at me and hummed in response. "...Do you want to go see Shade first before we go talk to Rusl?" I asked her. She instantly became intrigued and glanced at the map I was holding.

"Sure! Knowing another hidden skill couldn't hurt. You want to?" She asked back to me. I smiled and nodded, looking around for a particular plant. I hadn't seen Epona in ages and I miss her so much! I know she can take care of herself just fine, but I want to start getting close to her again. I told her to go back to Renado and Ilia when Scarlett and I had to leave so she's probably in Kakariko village.

"What are you looking for?" Scarlett asked in curiosity. I didn't answer as I spotted a patch of horse grass in a part of Hyrule Field. I grinned at her and motioned for her to follow me. She was even more curious as she followed me, but she started cheering when she saw the horse grass.

"Epona! Oh my goodness, I haven't seen her in so long it feels like!"

"I know. I hope she hears this," I said, blowing into the horse grass. I knew the melody by heart and the beautiful tune emitted from my mouth loud and clear. I stopped after a minute of creating this tune and let the grass fall from my fingers. "...Let's wait a few minutes and see if she comes," I said to Scarlett, sitting down. She sat down as well and began splitting small pieces of grass in half.

"You know...It's so weird. The weather here is so warm and inviting while in Snowpeak it's so cold and deadly. Then there's Gerudo Desert where it's excruciatingly hot! I just think it's cool that Hyrule is so diverse in its environments. I'm really glad we've been given the chance to explore them all," she said to me, looking up to look out into the field. I smiled at the look in her eyes. The green in them were filled with so much hope and fascination.

"Me too. I'm glad I have you with me to explore all these places, Scarlett."

"Likewise," she said, her face beaming. I continued to smile at her until I saw a small brown blur in the background. I squinted my eyes at the object and Scarlett turned to look at whatever I was seeing. She was the first to see what it was before I could. Oh Hylia, please don't tell me I'm going blind…

"Epona!" She screamed with glee, standing up in the grass and waving at the sprinting horse. I stood up as well and watched as Epona ran to us. I almost felt like crying. I really did miss her, huh?

"Hey there, girl," I said quietly, pressed my face against her mane when she finally reached us, "I missed you."

Epona, in return, leaned into me and snorted happily. Scarlett was on the other side doing the same thing, and we just stayed like this for a moment. It was a peaceful and loving reunion. After a while, I took my face off of Epona and looked into her eyes.

"You're such a good girl, Epona! You heard that all the way from Kakariko Village! Good girl!" I praised her. Again, she snorted and neighed at my words with joy written all over her face. "...Can you take us back to Kakariko Village, Epona?" I asked. She nodded and hopped in place with her front legs. Over the years, she's learned to understand me. She's a really smart horse! And she was also one of my best friends. I jumped up on her back carefully, and then helped Scarlett up to sit behind me. She wrapped her arms around my waist as I took Epona's reins in my hands. Man, did this bring me back…

"Here we go! Hyaa!" I yelled, encouraging Epona to start moving. She started off slow and then we were soon cruising through Hyrule Field. Running east, Epona took us all the way to Kakariko Village in all its ghost town glory. It sure looked like one anyway. Epona stopped in front of Renado's house and turned her head at me. It was like she was telling me, "we've reached your destination." I placed both my hands on the sides of her face and pressed my forehead against hers.

"Thank you, Epona," I whispered before hopping off her back. She still looked so happy to see us just by the twinkle in her big brown eyes. Scarlett jumped down after me and circled her hand over the horse's back.

"Aww, I'm so glad she missed us," she said, looking at me. I smirked and threw my arms around Epona's neck.

"Well of course she did! We've been together ever since I can remember. Isn't that right, girl?"

Epona neighed in response while nodding her head. Scarlett giggled and shook her head. Well it's true! Finishing her laugh, Scarlett took out the map and located where exactly the golden wolf was. She traced her finger along the parchment and then turned around in the direction of the Kakariko Village Graveyard.

"If I'm reading this correctly, Shade should be in the graveyard!" She said, pointing in that direction. I unlatched myself from Epona's neck and looked over her shoulder at the map.

"Knowing you, that's probably not right."

"Hey!" She screamed, "what do you mean by that!?"

"Well...in the past you've never had a good sense of direction," I told her, taking the map from her. She put her hands on her hips and shot daggers at me.

"Give me one example!" She demanded.

I started counting examples on my fingers.

"Let's see...when we first met you walked in the direction of my house when you thought it was the village. Then, there was that time where you started to freak out in the Forest temple about how many pathways there were and shit. And who can forget the time when you totally misread the map back in the Lakebed Temple…"

"I said one example!" She yelled, punching me in the arm. I brought my hands up and laughed.

"Okay! Okay! I'll stop! Let's go check out the graveyard," I said. I then turned to Epona and told her that we would be back in a few minutes. She nodded and walked over to the spring to drink some water. She must be thirsty after running all the way from Castle Town to here.

Heading up the hill to the graveyard, Scarlett and I entered the spooky setting. The majority of the graves in the graveyard were tilted out of place or covered with dust and tumbleweed. It really showed how old the village was. The last time we were here we were given our Zora armor from the deceased Zora Queen. I will, and always will, say that that armor is probably one of the coolest things given to us on our journey. It gives us the ability to breathe underwater for Hylia's sake! How cool is that!? But here in this graveyard, we were far from any large body of water. This land looked like it was in the process of becoming a clone of Gerudo Desert! Just on a smaller scale.

"There he is," Scarlett said, looking at the golden wolf in the back of the graveyard. She then turned to me and punched me in the arm again. Her punches never hurt, but I thought it would be funny if I acted like they did. "...See!? I told you I had a sense of direction!" She exclaimed proudly.

"Hmm…" I replied with a skeptical look as I started walking over to Shade. Scarlett smiled and followed me until we were both standing in front of the wolf. Like every other time we've met, Shade took us to a solid white land full of nothing. It's so open, so peaceful, and so very quiet. It has this freshness to it that makes it easier to breathe. The reason for this was probably to help us learn the hidden skills better. No matter what it is, Shade being here was a sure fact. He stood in front of us, making gentle raspy breaths every few seconds. There's no way of telling, but I'm pretty sure he's always happy to see us.

" _We meet again. There are just a couple more hidden skills for me to teach you. Are you two ready?"_ He asked us. We both nodded and he lifted up the ancient shield he carried in his hand. " _Very well._ _The last skill you learned was the mortal draw. Refresh what you have learned on me at the same time,"_ he instructed. I glanced at Scarlett as I gripped my sword. She did the same and we both waited for the right moment to strike at the skeletal warrior. He ran at us with his sword and shield but the two of us stopped him dead in his tracks.

No pun intended…

He fell backwards with a deeper hitched breath escaping him. He looked at us from the ground and then got up like it was nothing.

" _Very good, as always. You two certainly have gotten stronger since the first time I saw you. Now for your next skill. This one is called the 'Jump Strike',"_ he said. That sounded like all you had to do was jump and strike your sword but it also sounded kind of cool.

" _Now you are probably thinking...the skill sounds like all you have to do is jump and strike your sword. Well that's true, but it's more than just a simple attack. With this skill, you focus power into your blade so that it can hit a multitude of enemies, rather than just one. The most important thing is to think about the power of your blade. You will probably feel a slight vibration in your grip when you do. Once you feel that, you can perform the attack. Like before, you will be doing this together,"_ he explained.

I smiled and looked at Scarlett. We do everything together.

"Is it just you we're performing the skill on or are there some decoys that will appear?" Scarlett asked. Shade snorted and within the blink of an eye there were six of him! Six!

" _Does that answer your question?"_ He asked Scarlett. She gulped and nodded, getting ready to hit three of them while I had the other three.

" _Excellent. Now build your power inside of your blade,"_ he told us. I closed my eyes and thought hard about the master sword and its great strength. I didn't really know the exact thing I was supposed to be thinking but it did the trick. I felt a small buzz emit from the master sword's handle in my hands. It was a comforting feeling. I opened my eyes again and put my "game face" on. I was first to go in performing the skill. I jumped up as high as I could and slammed the sword down at the three Shades in front of me. A blue spark lit from the tip of it and a sharp shockwave blasted all three of them to the ground...So freaking cool. The Shades disappeared so I watched Scarlett perform the skill. The same effect occured, only this time, one of the Shades was the real one.

" _Nicely done. Both of you. The sixth hidden skill has been passed on,"_ he said as he stood up. Scarlett and I high-fived and looked pretty proud of ourselves. Only one more skill to go.

" _You are right to be confident in your abilities. You two have gotten so far in your journey and you have not let anything keep you down in these dark times. I am proud of the both of you."_

It's like he's our dad. I really do feel that way every time I see him. He reminds me a little bit of Rusl, but different somehow. Other than the physical appearance, I mean.

" _Do you have any questions regarding the path ahead?"_ He asked. This was Scarlett's cue to step in. She's the one that asks the questions. All three of us know that by now.

"I have a couple and I hope you can answer them this time. First, will you tell us who you really are...or were. And second, what do you know about Ganondorf? We learned back at the Prison that he was the one behind all of this and that he and Zant have been working together to spread darkness into Hyrule. Would you know anything about that?" She asked with a hopeful expression on her face. Shade looked at the ground for a second and then back at her.

" _I know it has been frustrating asking me the same question every time we meet. However, I truly believe the right time to tell you is when we have our final hidden skill lesson. I will tell you everything there and it will all make sense. As for Ganondorf, all I will say is that he and I have a history. A dark one. There is not an inch of light inside him and he will do anything to obtain power and take over Hyrule. Do not let his words sway you into thinking otherwise. But again, everything will come together in our next and final meeting,"_ he said, his tone clearly trying to please her. Scarlett smiled and nodded.

"Okay, as long as you give us the whole story. I am fascinated by the mystery around you, Shade. It makes me think and wonder what you have been through," she said. She then laughed, "I bet you have some pretty cool stories to tell."

Shade chuckled under his breath and nodded.

" _I do, Chosen Heroine. You won't be disappointed. Until next time."_

"Mhmm," she mumbled with a smile.

" _I do, however, have one final thing to say. You are in Kakariko Village now. The hot springs in the mountaintops were once springs enjoyed by the goddess herself. Before you leave the village, go to them and soak in their waters. There might just be a surprise waiting for you I've been told,"_ He said before turning to me, " _Link, this is for Scarlett only. Think of it like the vision you were given by the Lanayru spirit. That was solely for you to see and this is solely for her to see."_

"I understand," I said, nodding. I'm hoping that she won't get the same experience that I got. That was terrible!

" _Thank you. I will see the both of you when the time is right. Good luck on your journey and fight together as one piece of the Triforce of Courage,"_ he told us before we were back in the real world. He was gone and we were now in the Kakariko Village graveyard, just like before. I wonder when that final meeting will be. It seems like it would be so far away from now, but chances are it will be much sooner than I think…

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Link and I were back in the graveyard again with the same lonely tombstones sitting in their awkward positions. But even that can't make me frown right now. I'm excited about going up to the spring today. There's no telling what it will be. Shade said that he was told there might be a surprise up there. He was told? Could that be a clue?

"You excited?" Link asked me. He probably saw the way I was lost in thought. I nodded in curiosity.

"Yes, there's no telling what it could be. That's the best part about it. Plus, I get to go to the hot springs and relax," I laughed. He gave me a look and put one hand on his hip.

"Somehow I knew you would add that in there."

"You know me like an open book I guess," I laughed again. It was probably more like half an open book. I still have things I haven't told Link and I'm sure he's the same way. And that's fine. That just gives us more stuff to talk about. "...We better get going though. It's after noon and I don't want it to get too dark when we leave the village," I said, looking up at the falling sun.

"Same here," he said. We began to leave but stopped when we saw a boy crawling out of the hole in the back of the graveyard. The hole led to a hidden Zora tomb and it is the location of where Link and I got our Zora outfits from the deceased Zora Queen. Who was this boy again? He was a zora himself. It didn't hit me until he was all the way out of the hole and looking up at us. It's the sick boy we helped get here from Castle Town! He must've gotten better!

"Oh, hello there," he said to us shyly. It was so cute.

"Hi, you're Prince Ralis right?" I asked him kindly. He nodded slowly with widened eyes at the sound of his name. "...I knew it! I'm Scarlett and this is Link. Do you know who we are?"

He gasped a little and smiled like all of his shyness has just disappeared.

"You two are the ones who escorted me here and got me the medicine I needed! Thank you!" He exclaimed, shaking our hands like a true gentleman. His mother taught him well! Link crouched down to his level and nodded.

"We're just glad you're okay. You feel completely better or are you still recovering?"

"I feel better for the most part. There are still moments where I feel light-headed but nothing serious. If it weren't for you guys I would still be in a bed passed out in Castle Town. The doctors there apparently had no idea what I was sick of," the boy said, looking shocked at the realism of it. I gave him an apologetic look and waved my hand down.

"Oh, those doctors over there are just really stubborn. A lot of them are just too old and need to retire. But they can't since people my age apparently don't want to be in that profession. The guys want to be knights for the most part and the girls want to do something more exciting. But that's Castle Town for you," I said with a shrug. Prince Ralis smiled widely and tilted his head.

"Back at the domain, kids my age would do anything to become a doctor. Water is so pure and full of life...That, and the Zora have a natural instinct to help others in need. Just like you two," he said with a childish joy that was impossible not to love.

"Thank you," Link and I said in unison. He nodded back to us and began walking towards the exit of the grave.

"It's true! I can't thank you enough! Now if you'll excuse me I need to take my medicine now. Renado sometimes gets peeved if I forget," he explained. That's a weird thought. I can't see Renado, being the calm man he is, getting angry at anything. However, everyone has their limits so it's certainly possible. I turned to Link after the little prince left our presence and pushed my head up in the direction of the springs above us.

"I'll go to the springs real quick and see what Shade has in store for me. You want to just wait with Epona in the village?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I can do that. I'll be near the Eldin Spring," he said to me as we reached the edge of the village, "See ya," he said with a wave. He walked away back to Epona who was waiting patiently for us while I made my way up to the hot springs in the mountaintops hanging over Kakariko Village. They aren't big springs. They're just tiny tourist-like springs for people to relax in. As I was going up the trail that led to the spring, I noticed that no one else was up here. That's good because I don't feel real comfortable with bathing naked with someone else. I tend to be more shy about my body. As I finally reached the top, I began taking off my clothes because Shade told me to bathe in the spring's waters. I was constantly looking around as I undressed. Fortunately, it didn't look like anyone would be coming to the springs today. I neatly folded my clothes and placed them on the rock closest to the water. I then set both my sword and shield next to it so I could keep a close eye on it. Now that I'm finally ready to get in the water, I'm a little nervous about getting my "chosen experience". There's no telling what shade meant.

"Here goes…" I muttered as I slowly walked in the spring and sat down gently. The water is hot, but I feel so relaxed sitting in it. My tense muscles from our journey feel like they are loosening up and even some scratches I have gotten from battle are disappearing. I watched them fade away like they never existed in the first place before looking up at the steam around me. Is it just me or did it get thicker? I closed my eyes for a few seconds and then opened them again. The steam was definitely getting thicker and thicker as time went on. I couldn't even see anything but steam now. It was surrounding my whole body like a blanket and I felt my vision whiten. I wanted to get up, but it was like I was frozen in place. I didn't know whether to panic or just accept that this was the beginning of my experience.

" _Don't worry, you're safe…"_

A voice rang out to me as if they were reading my mind. The voice was feminine and actually sounded a little like my voice. Not quite, but really similar. I closed my eyes again and this time I opened my eyes to see something completely new. With Shade, he always took us to an empty environment filled with white. Here, it was a tint of gold with a variety of water falling in multiple springs. My clothes were back on so I guess this was like the same thing. I looked around and felt the water that I was standing in. It has a coolness to it that is so enjoyable. Not only is this place beautiful, the water within it feels heavenly.

" _Soothing, isn't it?"_

I took my eyes off the water and looked straight ahead of me to see a woman there. She looks exactly like me! Only you know, her hair is in a different style and it's a lighter color than my own. Her eyes are the same though.

"Who are…" I began to say but never finished. I was more speechless than I thought I would be.

" _If you're asking if I'm you from another dimension or something, the answer is no,"_ she laughed.

"Oh…"

" _My name is Scarlett though, just like you. And if you haven't noticed, we do look alike."_

"I n-noticed…" I said, looking her up and down. She gave me a smile and walked up to me.

" _Do you know why that is?"_ She asked with a hopeful look in her eyes. I tried to think of a logical answer and grinned when it finally came to me.

"Are you the chosen heroine from the past?" I asked her.

" _Yes! Well, one of them anyway! I was the last chosen heroine before you were born. Oh, you are so beautiful! And I'm so impressed with how well you've transitioned into this role. Back then, I had some trouble getting used to fighting monsters and enemies every day. Link had to protect me way more than I like to admit...But it's his nature to protect me,"_ she laughed with a small blush on her cheeks. I looked at her in confusion and asked her about her 'Link'.

"Wait so...You have a Link too?"

" _Mhmm,"_ she replied, " _It's quite unusual. Every single generation of heroes and heroines have been named Link and Scarlett throughout time and history. Why this is? I'm not quite sure, but the Goddess Hylia works in mysterious ways. Then again, every single princess of Hyrule has been named Zelda. I find that pretty neat...you probably have a lot of questions huh?"_

I nodded my head.

"Yes...I mean...If shade sent me here...would that make him…"

" _My Link, yes."_

I knew he was the past hero! I just couldn't get him to confirm it for me. That must be what he is going to tell us on our final hidden skill lesson...This was so great. This is exactly what I've wanted since the day Link and I met Shade. Maybe my past life can answer all of my questions!

"That makes so much sense. Um...Why is he in a skeletal form while you look normal like me?" I asked her. She dropped her smile a bit and then it came back as she shook her head.

" _That dummy...He is so full of pride. It's a long story but I'll describe it the best I can. Back when we were alive, we also had to fight Ganondorf. He had taken over Hyrule in the course of seven years. During that time, Link and I were sleeping. Why were we sleeping? Well that's also a long story! But basically, when we went to retrieve our master swords we were too young to wield them. We were like ten I'm pretty sure. You and Link are the right age so you didn't have to sleep or anything like that. The sword has some sort of age limit on it. Kind of like alcohol! It's weird, I know. Oh Gods, I'm getting way off track. Okay, anyway, the both of us defeated him and Hyrule was saved. However, the princess thought it would be best that we went back in time and lived our lives like normal people. She sent us back to the past before we got our master swords and from there we told the king of Hyrule all of the things that had happened. We may have went back to the past, but we still remembered everything that had happened. After that, the king stopped Ganondorf before he could take over the kingdom. As for Link and I, we spent most of our life together on a farm. It was owned by one of our closest friends, Malon,"_ she told me. My eyes widened at the name. Malon was my great grandmother's name. I didn't know her because she died before I was born, but my mom used to tell me how kind and loving she was.

"Malon was the name of my great grandmother. Was she your friend?" I asked her. She giggled and nodded.

" _Yes, I do believe they are the same person. She was so cool. She was the best farmer I've ever met. She knew how to grow everything and she also knew how to raise horses. She even gave Link one as a gift! I laugh because it's so ironic that her family moved into Castle Town while Link and I stayed in the country. That's why you live in Castle Town and Link lives in Ordon Village," she said._

"So you're Link's great grandmother?" I asked her, beginning to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

" _Yes. And may I say, he turned out pretty good! His hair is darker than his great grandfather's, but other than that he's almost identical. How is his personality? He's not rude or mean to you is he?"_ She asked with concern in her voice, " _I can only see you. I can't hear you two talking or anything,"_ she said. I shook my head and smiled.

"No, he's the best. He's so nice to me and always makes sure I'm not hurt or sad or anything!" I told her with a grin. She watched me with a peculiar look and put her hand to her chin.

" _I'm glad...Do I sense a love attraction here?"_ She asked, most likely already knowing my answer.

"Well...Yeah. I guess I do really like him. It's just that we're the perfect team and I never want to stop going places with him. Were you like that with your Link?" I asked her. It was so weird saying that because she looked exactly like me and Shade probably looked like Link whenever he was a human.

" _Yeah I was. We were perfect for each other. Although, did you know that every single generation of the hero and heroine have gotten together?"_

"Really?" I asked, slightly surprised. We had both sat down in the shallow water as we talked by this point.

" _Yep. Every single one. I'm not saying that you just automatically have to get with the hero, but it just seems like all of the chosen heroine had feelings for their chosen hero. It would be even more cliche if we were the princess,"_ she laughed. I laughed as well and wanted to slap myself because we had gotten so off track from the original question.

"Oh shit, we were talking about how your Link looks like a skeletal warrior," I told her. Her green eyes went big and she brought her palm to her face.

" _Wow. I really suck at explaining stuff. I just get so off topic that I end up talking about other shit for hours! Okay, back to that! As we got older, Link became a royal knight for the kingdom and so he had to travel from the village to Castle Town every so often. I didn't mind because he always came home every night. Well, one night, he came back home and his eye was bleeding. It was really bad and I was so scared when I saw him that I immediately ran to him and asked him what happened. He told me he was ambushed by a gang of monsters in Hyrule Field and one of them managed to slash his eye. I tried to heal him, but I couldn't bring the sight back in that eye so he was blind in it. He still had his other eye so it was okay. He was just happy that he could still partially see. So that's why his left eye is red and scarred. But I mean, between just you and me, the scar looked pretty hot back then."_

My mouth fell open and I leaned closer to her.

"What!? Didn't you have to take his eye out? That's disgusting!"

" _No no no, he still had his eye. I was able to heal the surface of it to where he could still keep the eye. He just couldn't see in it. The scar ran from the bottom of his eye to the top. It was sexy, okay!"_

Wow, she talks exactly like me. She even has the same mannerisms.

" _...As I was saying, the reason he looks the way he does is because he felt like he could do more in life. So, instead of just going in peace like I did he decided to wait for your arrival and hand down the skills that we knew when we were the chosen ones. He wanted the satisfaction of knowing he could help someone before he went off to Heaven. Staying here, as well as creating another form for himself in your world, put a huge strain on his soul. Thus, he looks the way he does because he barely has any energy left in his soul to stay in this world. Have you noticed that everytime you see him he sounds like he is out of breath?"_ she asked me. It was true. I did notice that his breathing was always raspy everytime we saw him.

"Yes, I've noticed that. But, if you decided to rest in peace how do you know that about him," I asked her.

" _I still see him whenever I can. That's what this place is for."_

She looked around us and gestured her hand around.

" _...This place is known as the Ghostly Ether. It is a place for spirits to roam free if they want and watch over the human world. It's a little complicated, but I can stay here and still look like myself. That's because I'm not constantly going into the human world like Link does in his wolf form. That's what's really causing him trouble. Does that make sense?"_ She asked, hoping that it did.

I nodded.

"It does. So every time your Link goes into our world it puts a strain on his soul?"

" _Yes, that is why he looks like a skeletal warrior. However, when he finishes teaching you guys the hidden skills he will finally be able to rest in peace and return to his normal self again. Oh man, I can't wait! I haven't seen him in his human body for years!"_ She said, clearly excited over the idea. I smiled until a thought came to me.

"Yeah, but why was he constantly going into our world when he could've just waited here?" I asked. I thought it was a legitimate question to ask.

" _It's like I said, that's the way he is. I was fine with waiting here because I believed my time on Earth was finished. But Link? Nope!" she laughed, "he was still full of adventure! He spent time with me here but every so often he would go down in his wolf form and just explore Hyrule. I kind of wish I joined him for some of those days. But when he started becoming all skeletal it was really funny because I began teasing him about how he overdid it. I'm normal-looking because this is really the first time I've made contact with your world since dying. Link? Yeah, he had a freaking blast down there...Sure, I miss seeing him as the beautiful boy that he is but just having him here to talk to me was and is enough. Besides, we'll be together in Heaven soon without a care in the world. We both just want to make sure that you and Link save Hyrule and come out of all this safely,"_ she said, resting her hand on my back.

"Thank you so much. I'm so grateful that you wanted to talk to me," I said to her. She was the last heroine, but to me she almost felt like a long lost companion. I felt so happy to be talking with her. She grinned at my words and hugged me.

" _Thank you for taking on this heavy burden. I know it's been difficult but it's almost over. You've done so good so far. I've watched you and Link from the start and it's like I have an anxiety attack every single time you two go into a dungeon or temple! But I just wanted to speak with you to tell you to keep going. Never give up and always stay together. As long as you do that you can accomplish anything._

Oh my gods, I felt like crying right now. I was starting to get emotional and she laughed sympathetically.

" _Don't cry, Scarlett. It's okay!"_

"I'm sorry, I just really needed that…" I told her, "...I get emotional sometimes. But thank you again. This means a lot. S-So…" I moved on to some other little questions I had for her because I didn't want to keep crying in front of her. "...Did you and your Link always live on the farm? And also, why does he talk in the most formal way possible?"

She busted out laughing at that last question.

" _Actually, after we were turned back into kids by the princess she put us on a quest to do something that would take way too long to explain. I'm talking we had to save this dumbass town from the moon falling on it and all that crap. Yeah, it's as ridiculous as it sounds. But after, we journeyed through Hyrule together. When we became teenagers that's when we decided to settle down at your great grandmother's farm. Small world huh? As for your second question...Yeah, he just does that to mess with you guys. Like literally, when he gets back to me he just talks normally and we laugh about it."_

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Are you sure? He seems pretty serious about it…"

" _Trust me, that's not the way he talks. He also deepens his voice so you guys won't recognize that he sounds like Link. He'll probably tell you this when you have your final hidden skill lesson."_

"Well that just about answers everything doesn't it," I laughed.

" _Pretty much!"_ she replied, " _And also, Link told me that you were wondering why your Link was the only one to see that vision from the spirit, Lanayru right? My best guess is that the hero has the same blood as all the past heroes so Hylia wanted to entrust him with that information. It's unfair, but that's how it is. But you got to see me before Link does so ha! I hope this all helps figure out some things for you."_

"It does. All of the questions I've had over the journey are now answered. Most of them anyway. I can't thank you enough," I told her, giving her another hug. I knew that this was my time to go so I wanted to make sure she knew how grateful I was.

" _You're welcome, Scarlett. Remember that I'm always watching over you and Link. I may not have been able to teach you any hidden skills, but I will always be in yours and Link's hearts. I must let you go now...Last minute advice...Stay strong and embrace the Triforce of Courage that was given to you by the Goddess Hylia. And tell Link how you feel for Hylia's sake!"_ she instructed me as her body faded away in golden shards of light. The environment of white and gold turned back into the springs and I was naked once again.

" _Oh, and don't tell Link who I am yet. I want to surprise him as well in my own way later. Goodbye!"_

Those were the last words I heard from the past chosen heroine before she was gone. I felt tears of happiness slide down my cheeks as I rose from the hot spring water and moved over to my clothes. That was so great. It was better than anything I could've imagined before coming here. I slowly put my clothes back on as I took some deep breaths. It was so much to take in but I freaking loved it. I wish I could tell Link about it all, but I'll let his great grandparents do that for me. I laughed to myself because that was so amazing. Shade is actually Link's great grandfather! Who knew!?

Once I finally had all my clothes back on, I made my way back down to Kakariko Village where Link was waiting for me with Epona. I was still kind of tearing up a bit when I made it over to him and he immediately became concerned.

"Scarlett, are you okay? What happened?" He asked, running up to me. I shook my head and wiped my eyes with my index finger.

"Nothing, it was just...wonderful…" I told him. His shoulders relaxed in hearing that.

"Oh...Okay...Good," he said with a smile. I took another deep breath and gave him a quick hug.

"Let's go find the next mirror fragment now," I said happily.

"Alright," he replied as we both got on Epona and headed towards Ordon Village.

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! I changed some stuff up from the game because it was just easier that way. It will work better when I create the Ocarina of Time story. This was meant to be so much shorter and it was also meant to be updated two weeks after the last chapter. I mean really, this chapter is almost 10k words! However, some stuff came up. Besides it being longer, I got the flu which really sucks. It takes weeks to recover from the flu this season so that wasn't good. I still get massive migraines but that's normal. Also, I have school to focus on so there's that. But anyway, please review or comment on the story and tell me what you guys think! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time.**


	26. Chapter 26: The Temple in the Grove

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! I'm sorry for taking so long to post this chapter but well...A tornado kind of tore through my town and forced me out of my college apartment so that really sucked! But everything is better now, and school is pretty much over until the fall so I'm free until then! I hope you guys haven't given up on me! Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think so far! Finally, thanks so much and here is the chapter! P.S. I'm going to see if I can get my present tense right. Sorry if I mess it up! I'm still improving!**

* * *

Ch. 26: The Temple in the Grove

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

My head was resting on Link's back as I continued smiling. That whole meeting with...well...the old me was so invigorating. I can't even believe it happened. But because it did, I am so happy right now. It's kind of like that feeling you get when you return home from school on a Friday and you have the whole weekend to do whatever you want. I can't explain it any simpler than that.

Link seemed to notice by the way he was glancing at me from behind his shoulder every so often. I look up and ask him what's on his mind.

"What is it?" I laugh.

"I don't know. You've been really happy ever since you got back from the hot springs. What happened up there?" he asks, hoping to get even the slightest of information about it from me. I smile in the most innocent way possible and run my fingers across my lips like a zipper.

"Nope! Can't tell you! It's a secret," I say, locking the zipper on my mouth with an imaginary key. He drops his shoulders in disappointment and gives me a pouting face. I wasn't going to let his puppy-dog eyes get me this time though. This secret is just too important. I give him a gentle push and laugh again.

"Oh, come on, don't give me that look. You'll find out soon enough. For now, focus on steering Epona!" I scream, looking over his shoulder to see if he's on the way to leading us into the hard, thick wall of an oak tree. Link raises his eyebrows and then gives a small chuckle.

"Steer into a tree? Like that would ever happen. Epona is too smart of a horse to-..."

He takes a moment in the middle of his sentence to look at the field ahead. Turns out...Epona likes trees or something because we were headed right into one right now! Link gasped and steered us to the right just in time. If he hadn't, we'd probably be on the ground with a couple broken bones. Epona is super fast so that's not an exaggeration!

"You were saying?" I ask, nudging him again. He doesn't look back at me and bows his head.

"Shh!"

I giggle to myself and lay my head back down on his back. Even though it's muscular, his back is surprisingly comfy enough to fall asleep on. I blink one time and we're suddenly in the depths of Faron Woods. I must've fallen asleep. I lazily lift my head up and look around. What I see is familiar. It's the same area Link and I were in back when we were trying to find the Forest Temple. It should be up here somewhere. Although, I will say that finding it might be harder since it's about to be nighttime.

"H-Hey...Have we found Rusl yet?" I ask the boy in front of me. He jumps a little from the sound of my voice and looks back at me.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to wake up. No, I think he may be in front of it. That's what the map back at Telma's showed. We're almost there though so it shouldn't be too long before we see him," he says to me. I rub my eyes and nod.

"Okay, and sorry I fell asleep on you."

His face heats up as he smiles.

"Nah, you're fine. It's been a long day, so I don't blame you, Scarlett. As soon as we find Rusl and get to the next dungeon or whatever we're going to set up camp and sleep in," he tells me with a sigh of relief. Sleeping in sounds really good right now. But, I think that's just the sleep talking. I hum to him in response and settle my forehead back on his shoulder blade. I just can't seem to wake myself up so I'm going back to sleep until we find Rusl.

When I wake up again, I find myself lying on the top of Epona's mane. Link is beside the horse talking to a man who I assume is Rusl. Who else would it be? Link must have carefully removed himself from in front of me and rested me on top of Epona so I wouldn't wake up. So sweet…

"On the far side of this deep gorge, there's a rumor that there is an ancient temple deep in the woods. It's said to guard a secret power. I haven't been able to confirm this, but anything is possible. They say our ancestors built the temple long ago. But I'm sure that power it's guarding would go a long way in saving Hyrule," the man, Rusl, said, looking off into the distance. I turn my head and see that we're at the Forest Temple entrance. Seeing it makes me think of mine and Link's first adventure with each other. Everything was great except for the huge spiders that were in there. I don't even want to think about those…

"Link, would you and Scarlett take on this task? Ashei has told me what you two have achieved so far and I'm convinced you can complete this as well."

"I'm sure we can cross this gorge and get to the temple, no problem," Link told him with confidence.

"Yeah, it should be a piece of cake," I say, making the two men look at me with widened eyes. I stretch some before hopping off Epona to talk to Rusl. I laugh in mild embarrassment and make sure my hair isn't messed up. "...Sorry for sleeping."

Rusl laughs and shakes his head. He seemed like a very nice man based on first impressions. And the way Link talked about him made me think he was a father figure to him.

"You're fine! Everyone needs a well-deserved rest! Hi, I'm Rusl," he introduced himself, stretching his hand out to shake mine. I do and give him a welcoming smile.

"I'm Scarlett. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise! I was just telling Link about an ancient temple I've been looking at just beyond the gorge. At least, that's where I think a temple is. So, you two up for the job?" He asks with a raised brow and his hands on his hips. Link and I look at each other before nodding. What could be worse than what we've already been through so far? "...Fantastic! I know I can count on you two."

"Thanks for helping us," Link tells him. He then glances at Epona and frowns a little, "uh, could you take care of Epona while we're gone? I don't want her to get lost in the woods."

"Sure thing, Link. She's in safe hands. Also, I do have a small partner that will help you across the gorge. She can fly you anywhere you need to go. Given her size, I would go one at a time though," Rusl explained to us before putting his index and middle fingers to his mouth. He blew out a large whistling sound and a golden chicken came flying at us from...Well, I don't know where the hell it came from. And yes, I said a golden chicken. It flew at us until it landed on Rusl's arm. It's the most beautiful chicken I've ever seen...If chickens can even be beautiful I mean…

"And here she is! Just hold on to her sides and she will take you to the other side of the gorge starting there," Rusl says, pointing in front of us where there's a tiny surface of land. "...Other than that, good luck!"

He nods to us and then takes Epona by her reins. Link and I get in a weak goodbye before he finally leaves the area. Once he's gone, Link turns to me and picks up Rusl's chicken.

"Sorry for not waking you up. You just looked so peaceful…"

"I'm actually grateful that you didn't. I was so tired. But now I'm pumped up to get to the next temple!" I tell him happily.

"Well good!" He yells before jumping off the ledge. My mouth drops as the chicken he is holding flies him to the small piece of land Rusl pointed at. Link smirks at me when he's on the other side and the chicken comes back to me so I can get across as well. I give him a fake glare as I fly over to the spot he landed in.

"You're just good at everything, aren't you?" I ask with my arms crossed.

"Not everything, but most things," he teases. I look away with a laugh of disbelief and look at our route to the ancient temple Rusl told us about. It appears to be a chain of large tree branches that form a solid surface every few yards. All we have to do is fly to each surface until we get to the end I think. The bad part about it is that between the tree surfaces is a deep dark abyss with no ground in sight.

"Great. Heights again," I mutter. Link nods along with me and takes an arrow from his bag. He then tosses it over the edge and we wait for a sound of the metal in the arrow hitting some type of solid ground. We never hear a noise…

"Of course it's that deep," he says with a nervous laugh. He looks at me and shrugs, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me neither…" I say with a sigh.

"No matter. We should just keep doing what we're doing. Oh, and don't look down," he says. He picks up the chicken and flies to the next tree-made platform. I follow him, and we continue this for several minutes. I just close my eyes when I have to jump and clutch the sides of the golden chicken for dear life. I'd rather not look at the potential place of my death. But finally, after maybe a dozen tree platforms, we make it to the very end it seems. The first thing we see is a howling stone but it's not making a noise like it usually does. I look around, confused for a second. That's when I remember that we've been here before.

"Holy crap, we've been here before. We were just wolves back then, and I think this is the pathway that leads to the spot where we got our Master swords!" I say to Link in excitement.

"Wow, you're right. Hmm, did we go by the ancient temple without even noticing it?" He asks himself, scratching his cheek in thought.

"I don't know, but we'll find it for sure this time. Come on."

I grab his hand and the both of us walk into the deep woods that is known as the Sacred Grove. Did you see what I did? I got Link to hold my hand! And he didn't even question it! Not that he's questioned it before but...I don't know, I just like being close to him like this.

The second time around, the Sacred Grove is the exact same. And you know what that means. It still has that annoying little wooden brat in it. The wooden boy jumps down from a tree as soon as he sees us enter the grove and immediately blows on his stupid little horn.

"Not this kid again. Let's do the same strategy we did last time. I take care of the wooden puppet things and you catch him," Link whispers to me as three puppet-like enemies fall from the trees. Their red eyes are definitely nightmare-fueling. I can't think about them though. I need to focus on the boy with the horn. I nod to Link, and he gives my hand one last squeeze before he lets go to get his sword. He yells at the puppet monsters and runs at them, swinging his sword into one of their necks. I hope he'll be okay by himself. I turn my head at the little boy and he jumps at my intimidating gaze. He starts to run, and I sprint after him.

"I'm gonna catch you again! Just like last time!" I scream at him. He just pants as he runs away from me. He's fast but I think I can catch him eventually. Every now and then he blows on his horn to summon more of his creepy friends. I think of Link every time he does. And the fact that this kid laughs every time he does it is so irritating. I finally just grab my bow and shoot him in the ass with an arrow.

"Ow!" He yells, patting his butt. But he's still running! What the crap!? Maybe he's had some experience if you know what I mean...Totally kidding! That's gross and inappropriate!

"Get back here, you little bastard!"

He runs into a section of the woods where there's nowhere else to go and I'm able to catch my breath. There's nowhere for him to run off to now. He giggles at me as he runs to a concrete wall and presses his back to it.

"That was fun! I'll show you a secret place for playing with me!"

He jumps up into the trees and then the wall he was up against disappears to reveal a new path. If I remember correctly, he did the same thing last time. Ugh, such an annoying boy. Where's his wooden mother?

Still panting, I turn around and call for Link.

"Link! I'm over here!" I repeat. I hear some rustling and he finally comes running to me after about thirty seconds. I look at the green short sleeves of his tunic and find that there are rips and tears all over them. There's also what looks like blood stained on the fabric as well.

"Hey! Good job catching the kid and everything. Those puppets were a pain in the ass," he says when he reaches me. I put my hands on his biceps and he winces just slightly.

"Are you okay? They didn't cut you too bad, did they?" I ask with worry written all over my face. He gives me a brave smile and nods.

"I'm okay, Scarlett. Not anything I can't handle," he replies. Link has a bad habit of not telling me when he's hurt. That, or he acts like he's not hurt at all because he doesn't want to look like a wimp. It makes me worry about him all the time! I hate seeing that innocent face of his wince in pain…

"Well at least let me look at it and bandage it up," I tell him, lifting up his sleeve. The cuts weren't too deep, but they could get infected if he isn't careful. I grab some ointment medicine from my bag and gently rub it on his bare arms. He closes his eyes tightly as I do this, so I give him a hug to make him feel better once I'm done.

"T-Thanks," he mutters with a smile. I nod and go on to wrap a bandage around the cuts. They should look a lot better in the morning after we get some rest.

"There, all done," I say as I tie up the last bandage. I look at up at him and blush, "sorry, I just worry about you…"

He stares at me for a moment without an expression on his face. I can't tell what he's thinking right now. He smiles after that moment of silence and pecks me on the cheek.

"Thank you. Let's go find that temple now," he says, going on ahead into the secret passageway the wooden boy gave us access to. I just stand there, completely bewildered. That...was so awesome! I bring my hand up to my cheek and smile at the ground. I'm mentally hopping in happiness inside right now. I turn and follow him once I'm in the right state of mind. Midna pops out of Link's shadow without him noticing and silently floats towards me. She has that same evil grin on her face she always has.

" _That was interesting~"_

I giggle.

"Yep."

" _Just keep doing what you're doing, sweetheart,"_ she whispers in my ear before going into my shadow. I shake my head and laugh. I sometimes forget that Midna is always watching. She's both our chaperone and a person I can talk 'girl stuff' with. It's actually kind of nice.

Back to our journey, we walk upon a familiar setting, just higher up. The two of us see those two statues that guard the entryway to the Master Swords. Those were a real bitch if I do say so myself. In front of those statues is a balcony just below us with another statue guarding a door. Link and I jump down to it and look around it to see if there's a switch or something. It's too heavy to move, so there's got to be another way to do this. We're pretty sure this is the entrance to the ancient temple, so we need to get to it obviously. Midna comes out of my shadow and points ahead at the two statues.

" _Try going to the place where you got your Master swords, and stick the swords back in their pedestals. That might work. It's worth a try, at least,"_ she suggests. It's not a bad idea. In fact, it's the only idea we have right now. Link shrugs his shoulders at me and takes my hand so that we can both climb down to the ground level. We walk forward to the place where we got our swords and find the two empty pedestals just sitting there next to each other. I take out my sword, as does Link, and we both stick it back in their slots at the same time. Surprisingly, we hear a rumbling noise behind us and we both smile at each other. Midna was right!

"You're so smart, Midna," I praise her. She looks away and waves her hand at me.

" _I know, I know."_

The three of us make our way back up the balcony, and sure enough, the statue is not in front of the door anymore. Rather, it's beside it.

"If the temple is here, it's got to be behind this door," Link says as he opens it. We both take a step back at what we see. It just shows the other side of the door, but it's in black and white. It's devoid of any color. So bizarre...Nonetheless, we try stepping into it. The statues in front of us disappear and all we see is light as we enter something entirely different from what we've seen before.

There's no doubt now that this is the ancient temple Rusl told us to find.

I'm so excited!

* * *

 **(Link's POV)**

I know finding this ancient temple is cool and all...but can we just take a moment to appreciate how good my game has been today? What game you ask? My love game. I've been holding Scarlett's hand and I even pecked her on the cheek! That takes some real courage right there! The Triforce of courage was really put to work during that. I just...want to express to her the way I feel about her a little at a time. I don't think just telling her that I like her out of nowhere will help me. Patience is key. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing. I haven't exactly had an interesting love life in my eighteen years of being alive. I've had two crushes, Ilia and Scarlett. Ilia lost her memory of me so she's not an option anymore. Plus, we were always kind of awkward around each other. Like, I had no idea how to act or what to say. But with Scarlett, I don't feel that way. We always have something to talk about and we care about each other. I care about her a lot...But, I've never really flirted with anyone before and I've never kissed a girl.

Ever.

And that's really embarrassing to me. I don't know why. I just figure that a lot of guys my age in Castle Town have probably had sex already or something like that. Lucky bastards...Not saying I want to immediately have sex with Scarlett! I'm definitely not saying that! I would never make her do something she's not ready for! Just...eventually you know? That is if I can even get her to like me back. That's the hard part. Sometimes I think it's harder than any of these monsters we've faced in the past. That's so sad...kind of funny...but sad. I just think she's a perfect match for me. We've spent all this time together non-stop every single day and still haven't gotten tired of each other. Far from it. I want her to be my first kiss...Gods, it's so embarrassing even thinking that but it's true. Damn it, I need to focus right now. I need to focus on this temple we're walking into.

"Whoa!" Scarlett exclaims, looking at the room we just walked in. I'd be lying if I said I didn't do the same thing. The place we're in is completely different from the Sacred Grove. It looks like a church or religious temple. Everything is either white or grey with a glossy shine over it. The only things that have color are the many stained-glass windows behind and beside us. They're so cool...I look down and see that we're at the top of a set of stairs, so we both walk down it to get a better look at the place.

"This is wild! What is this place?" I ask in amazement.

"I'm not sure but...I can't shake this feeling that I've been here before," Scarlett tells me with nostalgia in those emerald eyes of hers. I hum in response.

"Hmm, now that you say that, I feel it too. Weird…"

" _Actually, I believe this could be the Temple of Time,"_ Midna says out loud as she looks around.

"The Temple of Time? Wow, this is so cool. Look over there," I tell Scarlett and Midna, pointing ahead of us, "I think I can see another set of pedestals up there."

"Well then let's take a look," Scarlett says. I nod and we all walk into the separate room ahead of us. Here, it's just a huge room with a big ceiling overhead. In the room is an epically-sized triforce with two pedestals placed inside it. Midna floats over to them and snaps her fingers.

" _I think these pedestals may have been the place where the Master swords were originally placed. The last generation of heroes came here instead of the Sacred Grove to retrieve their swords. Seems like they had it easier than you guys did…"_ she mutters with a frown.

"Oh well. At least we're past all that, right? Let's see what happens when we stick our swords in these pedestals. If it's anything like the grove, something cool should happen," I say with a grin. Scarlett giggles at my excitement and holds her sword up in front of one of the pedestals. I do the same and we both stab our swords into their slots simultaneously. In the main room of the temple, a magical blue set of stairs forms in the middle of the room and goes all the way up to the largest stained-glass window in the temple.

" _That must be the rest of the temple up there…"_

"You're probably right...Hmm, I think it would be best if we just rest here before we go up there. It's been a long day and going into another dungeon sounds really tiring to me," I laugh. Scarlett gives me an agreeing look and rubs her eyes.

"I agree. Today has been exhausting. Hey Midna, you wouldn't happen to have two sets of pillows and blankets, would you?" Scarlett asks the shadow-like imp. Midna nods her head and brings out two large feather pillows along with two rolled up comforters. I raise my eyebrows at her and smirk.

"Where did you get those? That doesn't look like the blanket I brought at the beginning of our journey."

" _I stole some from Scarlett's closet back at her house,"_ she admits with a snarky grin.

"Hey! What else did you take!?" Scarlett questions.

" _Nothing else, but I did see some of the stuff you have in there. You naughty girl, Scarlett."_

I put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing as Scarlett's face turns red.

"I...I don't have anything in there that's bad!"

" _Mhmm, keep telling yourself that, honey. Anyway, here you go. I'm going to get some sleep too. It takes a lot to just sit in one of your shadows and watch you do all that work all day!"_ She yells in frustration as she drops the pillows and comforters on the ground. She gives us one last wink before going back into our shadows and going to bed. Does that mean it's just me and Scarlett now? Finally! I look at her and give her a warm smile.

"Hey...You remember what we talked about back at Telma's bar?"

"Huh?" She asks, momentarily confused. It takes her a second, but it eventually clicks inside her head. Her eyes brighten up and she smiles real big at me. "...Oh yeah! I talked to you about wanting to just sit around and talk right?"

"Yep! This would be the perfect time to do that, don't you think?" I say. She nods in the cutest way possible, and you can tell that she is really excited right now based on the expression on her face. I can totally see why. She and I haven't been able to just hang out with one another for a few days. We haven't been able to relax and just talk. Usually, we're either busy in some dungeon or too tired to even think straight. Today, however, I'm feeling okay. I'm tired but not so tired that I need to go to sleep at this exact moment. Scarlett took a nap on the way to see Rusl so I think she's good too. Ha, before I know it, I become excited about talking to Scarlett too. I lay my sleeping bag up against the wall in the room with the pedestals and Scarlett does the same right beside me. We both sit up with our backs against the wall and our pillows in front of us. We both sit crisscrossed as Scarlett begins to speak.

"Okay, so, what do you want to talk about?" She asks me, bringing her legs up and leaning her head on her knees.

"Let's see...what all did you do in life before you met me?" I ask her with some enjoyment. She laughs and thinks about it.

"Well, I went to school every single day except for Saturdays and Sundays. That really sucked. We basically just learned math, history, science, and language arts. I was a pretty good student by the time I graduated. I didn't know what I wanted to be yet though. I was kind of taking a gap year from deciding on my career, and that's when this whole thing started. And then I met you. I guess the Gods already had something in mind for me before I did. I'm glad they did though. I got to meet the best guy in the world!" She yelled, motioning her arms in a circular formation.

"Me? The best guy in the world?" I inquire with some doubt. She nods and looks down at the ground.

"Of course! I don't know what I'd do without you, Link," she admits. Her words give me a warm feeling inside.

"I feel the same about you, Scarlett," I say back to her with a grin.

"Thank you...Um...What did you do before you met me?"

I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Nothing important, I can tell you that. All I really did was help around the farm. If I wasn't doing that, I was either sleeping or homeschooling myself. Ordon Village, you could say, is a 'homeschool' village. But you already knew that. Basically, life was just really boring all the time. The only people I had to talk to were the kids in the village and Ilia. it was...okay I guess, but I was built for adventure!" I tell her. Let me just say that we already know this about each other. We're just catching up if that makes sense.

"I'm so sorry," Scarlett laughs, "but at least now you get to do all of this. And with the best partner ever! Okay! Okay! What is the worst thing you've ever done?"

The worst thing I've ever done…

"This isn't really one thing, but sometimes I would just sleep on the farm instead of actually doing work. It was usually during the time I needed to round up the goats. Sometimes, a couple of them got out and ran through the village when that happened," I laugh, looking back at the times I did that. Man, I was lazy.

"Wow. You're such a terrible person."

"Hey! What about you?" I ask.

"The worst thing I've ever done is...when I was in elementary school, I got into a fight with this girl over a boy," she says.

"A boy?" I ask, a little worried. She nods but snorts like it's nothing.

"Yeah, but this was like first grade. I don't even remember the guy's name anymore, so it doesn't matter. I punched the girl in the nose and it started bleeding while she kicked me in the knee and made me trip. Long story short, we both got detention from recess for the whole month," she says with a laugh following it.

"So, you were a bitch as a kid?"

"Yep! I was an absolute cunt! I'm not like that anymore...I hope…"

"You're not," I tell her with a grin. She smiles back and scoots closer to me.

"Good. What to talk about now...I have an idea. How about we tell each other a secret that the other doesn't know about. It doesn't have to be a super personal secret, just something that's funny or unusual. I have a small one that you'll probably like…" she says quietly. I notice that her face has turned a bright shade of red for some reason. It makes me want to know her secret even more. She looks reluctant to say anything, but she does anyway, "...I'm only telling you this because I know you'll just find it more funny than anything else. And I swear to Hylia, I didn't mean to! But...remember when we just got back from the Goron Mines and we slept in Kakariko Village that night? Well...you went to take a bath in the spring that morning and it was storming too. I think I forgot that you were bathing at the Eldin Spring because I was distracted by the storm. Anyway...I got really thirsty and went to get a drink of water and accidentally saw you naked in the spring…" she mutters.

I stand up quickly and my eyes widen at what she just said.

"Whoa whoa whoa! You saw me naked!? Like, everything!?" I blurt out. She nods with a growing smile and blushing cheeks.

"Are you mad?" she asks.

"N-No, it wasn't your fault but...I'm embarrassed. I mean...Oh Hylia…" I put my hand over my eyes and look away from her. She keeps on laughing and stands up too.

"If it makes you feel any better, all I will say is that you should be proud of what you have," she tells me. I take my hand off my face and look at her again.

"Are you saying you liked what you saw?"

"I didn't say that! Although, I did faint when I saw your...you-know-what," she giggled. I remember that. I don't remember what excuse she gave me though. She fainted because she saw my dick? That's kind of hilarious.

"Was it too big for your eyes to handle?"

"Yep!" She replies with a smile. I roll my eyes and nudge her in the shoulder with my elbow. "...hey! I had just never seen one before so...It just blew my mind."

"Understandable. I saw your private parts too, one time." I say. She gasps and puts her hands on her hips.

"What? When?"

"It was when we were shot out of that cannon on the way to Gerudo Desert. I was already in the desert when you got shot over to it, and while you were in the air your skirt flew up and I saw your panties. You know, the green-laced ones?" Of course I still remember what they looked like...

Her mouth parts and her hand slowly goes to her crotch to cover it up, but then she smiles and begins laughing.

"Then we're even!"

"I guess so," I laugh. We stand there laughing with each other for a minute, just enjoying each other's company. She stops when she has tears forming in her eyes and she wipes them away.

"I'm freaking dying! All that laughing reminded me that I need to go to the bathroom. Like really bad. So, I'm going to go back to the Sacred Grove and go pee there. I'll be right back."

"Okay, be careful," I tell her as she walks out of the pedestal room and goes back to the Grove through the magical door. I watch her go and then sit back down on the floor. This is so much fun. Embarrassing for sure, but fun. We can practically tell each other anything and it would be okay...Even who we like…

"Oh gods…" I sigh. I don't know what it is but there's this feeling I'm getting in my chest. It feels like a certain surge of confidence building inside me. I look at the triforce tattoo on the back of my left hand and see that it is glowing a bright, golden light. Why is it doing that? Is it because I'm thinking about my crush on Scarlett?

"Should I tell Scarlett how I feel?" I ask as a joke. The Triforce glows even brighter and my smile goes down. I really wasn't expecting that.

"Should I...give up on her?" I ask, just to see what happens. The triforce's light goes out completely as its answer. It's essentially a message from the Gods that I should do what's in my heart I think! That, or I'm going fucking insane...you know what? Fuck it! I'm going to tell her how I feel when I get back! I don't care if she rejects me and it's awkward for a couple days! I need to do this or I'm going to crazy! Screw patience!

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

Oh shit. I swallow hard and turn around to see Scarlett smiling at me. How did she pee that fast!? She's staring at me with those big, beautiful green eyes of hers. I could look at them all day. But, this is so much scarier than I thought it would be when I was full of courage a few seconds ago. I glance at the back of my hand and it's glowing again.

"Link?" She asks with a small laugh escaping her lips. I smile affectionately at her and take a deep breath.

"Listen, Scarlett, I need to tell you something…"

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! This was hard to write. Not going to lie. But it's done so I'm not going to worry about it! I will try to update faster from now on! Thank you, guys, for being patient! Please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think so far! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time.**


	27. Chapter 27: A Hero's Love

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter! Could this be the chapter!? Could this be the moment we've all been waiting for? Probably but who knows, I haven't written it yet. To be honest, I kind of just write whatever comes to mind when I'm typing it and then I edit it when I'm done. But we'll see what happens. I'm sure it will turn out great! Please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you guys think of it! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 27: A Hero's Love

 **(Link's POV)**

Scarlett looks at me with those pretty eyes of hers that are filled with so much anticipation. I think she thinks I'm going to tell her another one of my cute little secrets that we'll both laugh about for a few minutes again. Well, she would be half right. I'm telling her another secret of mine; however, this secret is probably the most important one to me. Heck, the thought of telling her about my crush on her makes me want to throw up. I'm just that nervous right now. The Triforce of courage does help though. I can feel it surge through my veins like a health potion would my wounds. I admit that I am still a little shaky right now despite that power given to me by the gods.

"Link? Were you going to tell me something?" Scarlett asks me with another laugh coming from her lips. The way they shine makes them appear as if she is wearing lip gloss all the time. I don't think she is wearing any makeup of any kind right now. This is just her natural beauty. She has the perfect mind, perfect eyes, perfect face, perfect hair, and perfect body. I guess in my eyes she's the physical embodiment of what it means to be perfect, no matter what she thinks of herself. Right now, she's still waiting for an answer from me. Have I just been staring at her this whole time like an idiot?

"Y-Yeah, I'm going to. I just...don't know how to say it exactly." I say with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Say what?" she continues with a smile. I take a deep breath and look at the ground. The longer I draw this out the harder it's going to get for me. My heart is beating a mile a minute and I feel really hot. But it doesn't matter! I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this right now. I look back up at her and chuckle again.

"Scarlett, you've been my partner this whole time ever since I found out I was the chosen hero of Hyrule. You've been there with me through every temple, every dungeon, every ruin. We've helped each other through all of that and now we're in the Temple of Time! I can't even believe it! I never thought I could've had this much fun with someone on so many things. At least, I never thought I could do that until I met you and started this whole quest to save Hyrule," I laugh. She laughs too and continues to listen to what I have to say. She has a growing smile on her face that helps me keep talking. "...I really couldn't have gotten this far without you. And even if I was given a different partner, none of them would have been as awesome as you are, Scarlett. Not even close. You are...the smartest, coolest, prettiest, most badass girl I've ever met," I tell her in the most confident way possible. It feels so good to say that. You don't even know.

Looking at Scarlett in front of me, she has the biggest smile on her face. She brushes a strand of hair out of her eyes and looks at the floor.

"Go on…"

"Well...I think you know where I'm going with this," I say with a laugh, "being with you all this time has made me realize that I never want it to end. I'm so happy when the two of us are together and you make me happy every time you look or talk to me. Knowing that you're by my side every night makes me feel safe. I know I'm a guy and I'm supposed to act really tough but it's true! I know you've got my back in any situation, and plus, you are one of the best fighters I've ever seen. I still remember the first day I taught you how to swing a sword the right way."

"That was so bad," she giggles with a reddened face. I shake my head.

"It was hilarious. But you learned so quickly. I'm still amazed at how strong you are. Both of us would be covered in bruises and cuts if it weren't for those healing springs in Kakariko Village. My arm would still be scarred from being shot by an arrow and your arm would still be burned from the steam in Goron Mines."

"Yeah, they really would. When that happened you immediately took me in your arms and healed me as fast as you could. You looked so worried for me," she says nostalgically. I grin and put my hand on hers.

"I was!"

"I know. I'm so grateful that you were there to help me through that, Link. But continue back to what you were saying!" she quickly yells to me. She looks almost excited to hear me talk. Her expression gives me even more strength to tell her how I feel.

"Okay, after saying all that, what I'm really trying to say is that I don't think I can live without you, Scarlett. I don't think I can be happy without you at my side. I think you're absolutely perfect in every single way. I'm sorry if I seem too quick with this but...I love you, Scarlett," I finish. She gives a relief-sounding laugh after I tell her that and then brings her hand to her eye to wipe away a tear. Is she tearing up? I feel her turn her hand under mine and soon our fingers are connected to each other. I look at our hands and then back at her. She's giving me the cutest look I've ever seen on her.

"Can I say something to you too?" She asks. I instantly nod my head.

"Yes! Of course! Go ahead!"

"Let me start off by saying thank you for saying all of that. My heart literally feels like it's about to explode. I'm so happy right now, Link. I can't even express it! You are the sweetest guy I've ever met. You've always been so kind to me and you always know what to say to cheer me up whenever I'm in a bad mood. That doesn't happen often though because usually we're both talking and laughing about something when we're not fighting anybody. I feel the same about you when you say you can't live without me. I don't know what I would do if I didn't see those beautiful blue eyes every morning when we wake up for another adventure. You always come to my rescue if I'm struggling with an enemy and you always ask if I'm okay when it's over. That just means a lot to me to know someone cares about me. And I care about you! I care about you so much! You're so strong and brave. You never hesitate to put yourself in the fight. A-Am I saying too much or going too fast?" She asks me with a worried look on her face. I smile and shake my head no.

"No, you're fine."

"Okay good. And, you're like...the cutest guy I've ever met too…" She says, embarrassed by just saying that sentence. I smile and blush at her words. "...I mean...look at you, Link. You work out every day. You keep yourself clean even though we have to battle through countless monsters that day. You take care of your body and you take care of me. I just really respect that…"

She rests her other arm on my bicep as she stares into my eyes.

"...So I guess...With all that said...I love you too," she tells me happily. There's silence between us as we both don't know what to say. We basically just told each other everything. Both of our hearts are beating faster than they ever have and I think we're both shaking from our nerves. Looking into Scarlett's green eyes, she has this look in them I can't quite figure out. She's slowly leaning closer to me and I hate to admit that I have no idea what to do in a moment like this.

"I…"

I manage to get out a single word before I lean closer to her and close my eyes as our lips connect. She grips my arm gently and I bring my hand to her face. Her lips are soft and inviting. They feel both cool and warm to the touch on mine. I can't really explain the feeling but it's heavenly. This is the first kiss for the both of us and it's the perfect one. We both stay in our first kiss for a few seconds and then we part. We separate only an inch before kissing each other once more. Scarlett lets a sound of pleasure escape her lips and she wraps her arms around my back, bringing me closer. Her beautiful scent is intoxicating. It makes me feel a bit weak and I lean back with my shoulders against the wall. Scarlett comes with me and puts her hands on my cheeks. After a few seconds more of kissing, we part from each other and a saliva string falls in between us. We both smile and laugh, lightly wiping our mouths with the back of our hands.

"That was awesome," she whispers with another laugh. I grin in response.

"Yeah, it was. I'm so...glad that you feel the same way, Scarlett. I was so scared to tell you because I thought it might ruin our friendship if you didn't feel the same way. Or, I thought it would be awkward between us for the rest of our journey and I didn't want that to happen."

"It's funny because I was in the exact same situation. I really was. Midna kept telling me to tell you how I feel and all that. I just couldn't every time I had the chance though. But, I was going to tell you soon. So, this would have happened anyways," she says with a blush.

"I guess it was just meant to be," I say happily. She smiles and gives me another hug, it ending with a loving kiss on the cheek.

"I guess so! Does this mean we'll be holding hands and kissing and everything a normal couple does?" she asks in a flirty tone.

"That and fighting monsters left and right with each other. So when did you start liking me? I'm curious."

"It was when you remembered my birthday at Snowpeak. That was the point I realized you were the one for me. Though, I think I liked you earlier than that. I just kept telling myself I didn't for some reason. But none of that matters anymore. How about you? When did you start liking me?" She asks me.

"I don't think there was any specific time when I started liking you. I think it just slowly built up over time. Being with you this whole time ever since we saw each other in that spring has been a blast. You would think spending time with someone non-stop would become boring but not with you. You always have something exciting to talk about. You always have something to keep me from getting bored like I normally would at the ranch. God, just thinking about that place makes me sleepy," I joke. She hums in delight and lays her head on my shoulder.

"I don't know. Being on a ranch doesn't sound too bad. You get fresh air. You get to tend to animals and stuff like that. It's a good place to...you know...settle down…" she mutters. I sit there listening before I realize what she's saying. My eyes go wide and I look down at her.

"Y-Yeah! I mean, I liked being there I just didn't have anybody to hang out with that often! But yeah, a ranch is an awesome place to live on. It's really peaceful...But, you like that type of place, huh?" I ask her with a growing smile. She nods and looks at me.

"Mhmm."

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

It would be cliché of me to be all excited and be jumping up in the air inside my mind but come on! I have the right to be! I'm sorry for being so happy right now but he confessed to me! _He_ did! I didn't even have to do it! And that kiss? I couldn't have asked for a better one. I'm truly blessed to have him here with me. I was expecting to wake up from a dream a couple times during his confession but it's not a dream. It's reality.

"Yeah, all that sounds nice," I tell him, talking about the ranch and its qualities. I can just see it now. Once this is all over, Link and I settle down in our own little ranch house with maybe a few farm animals here and there. And maybe a couple years down the line, we can have a kid of our own. A little Link or Scarlett! A different name from ours obviously but you know what I mean.

Okay, I know it's way too early to be saying any of that but a girl can dream.

"What do you like? Probably the city right since you lived in Ordon Village all that time," I say. He shakes his head and rubs my arm.

"No, I like your idea too."

"You do?"

"Yep! It sounds really nice. I may get bored in a place like that, but with the right person there with me I wouldn't mind it at all. I'm not surprised we both like that kind of thing. You and I agree on a lot of things," he laughs with a flushed face. He's so cute when he blushes. I giggle and pull away from him to get my pillow and blanket. I put my pillow next to his and spread the blanket over the both of us as I lay back down next to him. He lowers down on the ground from the wall and cuddles with me as we continue to talk.

"We do, don't we?" I say to him before yawning. He looks at me and chuckles.

"You sleepy?"

"Yeah, I can feel my eyes starting to fall. Sorry, I can't help it...Confessing my love for you took a lot out of me...which reminds me...I love you, Link."

"I love you too, Scarlett," he says back to me, giving me a soft, romantic kiss. I grin at him when he pulls away.

"It feels so good to say that."

"I know, right?" he agrees, "goodnight, Scarlett. I love you."

"Love you too," I reply as I close my eyes and let myself fall asleep in his arms. He holds me close to his body as he himself goes to sleep with me.

I can just tell I'm going to have good dreams tonight. The weird thing is that none of them could be better than what just happened. Sleeping here with Link next to me is the best thing I could've ever asked for. The old me was right when she told me to admit my feelings for Link. I now know for certain that we are meant to be together…

Both he and I, the chosen heroes.

The next day, Link and I wake up at about the same time. It's funny when he wakes up because he always stares at me for a few seconds before he says anything. I think it's because he's waiting for his vision to focus or something. Nonetheless, it's adorable.

"Good morning, beautiful."

"Good morning, handsome," I reply. He grins and rolls his eyes, stretching and standing up. He gives me his hand and helps me up. Both of my legs are still asleep when he does it so I use him as sort of a balance beam until they wake up completely. In the meantime, I look up at him and we share another kiss with each other. I think I'm getting better at this even though I literally have no idea what I'm doing. Link doesn't seem to mind. We're both amateurs at this so it's the perfect fit.

We were both too occupied with...ourselves to notice that Midna had come out of our shadows and was now gawking at us.

" _What the fuck!? What are you two doing!? What the hell did I miss last night!?"_ she screamed in shock. Link and I laughed at each other and told her what was up.

"We kinda confessed to each other last night after you went to sleep," Link told her. Midna's eyes went big and her mouth fell open.

" _You did it without me!? How could you! I wanted to see you two be all lovey-dovey with each other! Damn it! Was it at least nice?"_ she asked in curiosity.

"Oh yeah, it was nice. We've been saying 'I love you' every chance we get," I tell her. She rolls her eyes like she usually does and then laughs under her breath.

" _You two are really something. You know what, spare me the details. Let's just go inside that temple already. I want to see what's inside one of the most famous ancient temples of all time! Get it? Temple of Time?"_

Ugh, what a bad pun. We both just stare at her in mild disappointment and she waves her hand at us. She floats outside of the pedestal room and motions for us to follow her.

" _Come on, just leave your stuff. We'll come back and get them when we're done,"_ she informs us. We had nothing else to do other than to follow her so we did. The three of us are now in the main room of the temple. In front of us is the bright, shiny set of stairs that leads up to, I assume, the deeper interior of this ancient structure. This is so cool!

"This is all really exciting. I just need to pee first," I tell them before I start making my way out to the Sacred Grove again. To my surprise, Link follows me as soon as I make it to the forest-like area and begins walking away from me.

"I've got to pee too!" he yells, running behind a tree. I smile and look for a bush to relieve myself. That wooden brat better not be hidden somewhere peeking at me when I go to the bathroom. If I find out he is, I'm kicking his ass.

Once I'm done peeing I walk back to the door that leads to the temple only to find Link waiting for me there.

"Hey, thanks for waiting," I say, jogging up to him. He nods and winks.

"No problem," he replies, grabbing my hand and intertwining his fingers with mine. Did I mention how much I love this? We both walk back into the temple while holding hands and Midna gives us a dirty look.

" _Oh man! You two are going to act be acting like this from now on, aren't you? Scarlett, I know I was all supportive of your relationship and pushing you to confess your love but now that you're together I just want to throw up!"_

"Oh shut up!" I yell, "You can't tell me you've never had a secret crush on a guy before. Even you aren't immune to love!"

" _Um, ahem! I don't get feelings for a guy. The guy gets feelings for me. And when that happens, I proceed to strike them down as worthless and humiliate them for the impudent fools they are!"_ She screams, the room around her becoming strangely dark and scary. Link and I look at her in a frightened way until she grins and giggles.

" _I'm totally kidding guys! Don't give me that look! But no, I've never been with anybody because the guys that form a crush on me usually aren't my type. Enough about me though! Let's enter the temple!"_

She floats up the stairs so we follow her. She's always one step ahead of us. We walk up the flight of stairs before stopping right in front of the door.

This is it. This is the Temple of Time.

I glance at Link beside me and he has a look of excitement on his face. Of course he's excited about this. His thirst for adventure is always present. So is mine now that I think about it…

Let's see what the goddess Hylia has in store for us this time…

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Yes, it is a short chapter but it's meant to just focus on Link and Scarlett getting together! And finally! They're together! After 26 chapters they are together! And it was so sweet wasn't it? I tried my best to make it as romantic as possible. It actually wasn't that hard to write. I just hope I remember to get their things after the Temple of Time dungeon in the next chapter. But please review or comment on the chapter and tell me what you think of it! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time!**


	28. Chapter 28: The Temple of Time

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter of Legend of Zelda! It has just been a busy month for me. I went on vacation for like two weeks and literally had no time to write other than the plane ride to and from where I was going. E3 was also this week so you know I was invested in that for a long time, especially Kingdom Hearts 3. It looks so good! I wish they had announced a new LOZ though but whatever. Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you think so far. Also, I would love to see some fanart of this with Link and Scarlett from anyone who wants to draw them. I'm trying to but I never finish it! But anyway, thanks for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 28: The Temple of Time

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

All three of us walk down a number of stairs inside the temple before reaching the temple itself in all its ancient glory. It's big, and when I say big I mean it's huge! Statues like the ones in the Sacred Grove stand in certain spots of the room. I bet they have some use to them. We just need to find out what that use is. In front of us is a large bell-like structure and behind us is another set of stairs that leads to a door.

"This is kind of how I imagined this temple would look…" Link says to me, looking around. I look at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Statues everywhere. Stairs everywhere. That kind of thing," he says with a shrug of his shoulders. I stare at him for a second and then nod like I'm agreeing with him. He gives me a chuckle and pulls me forward to walk deeper inside the first room of the temple. We skip the large bell-shaped structure because we have no idea what it's for yet. Who knows, it could just be there for decoration. You never know in these types of places. So, instead, we go up the stairs to reach the door in the back of the room.

" _It's a good thing I float because you two go up so many stairs,"_ Midna says to us with a smug little grin on her face. We both just give her a look and ignore her this time. I look from her to the door and what do I see? That stupid yellow, ugly bird again! You know, the one that we thought was gone forever! I think her name is...Ooccoo. And I'm not trying to be mean! I just...I don't know, she seriously creeps me out. But more importantly, what in the holy mother of ass is she doing here!?

"At last I have finally made it here! The place I've been trying to get to this whole time!"

She looks at us and her red demon-like eyes glow in surprise.

"...Oh! It's you two! Will you two help me get to the end of the temple? I believe everything I am looking for will be there!" she tells us in fascination. Link and I look at her until Link finds the right words to say.

"I uh...I thought you got snatched by a skeleton back in the desert prison…"

She blinks a couple of times and flaps her yellow wings at us.

"Oh, that. Yes, the hand that snatched me used to be a part of a monster. And by that, I mean it was just a hand. However, it did put me in a pot. A pot, as you know, is my worst enemy. It took me hours to get out of it and I was scared for my life. But then! I flew all the way here! Isn't that something!?"

"Yeah..." Link and I murmur unenthusiastically.

"Yes! So, will you two help me?" she asks us, full of hope. Link looks at me, probably expecting me to outright reject this chicken's request. I would do that, really I would, but after last night I'm in an especially good mood at the moment. I take out my bag and open the top of it.

"Alright, hop in," I say. Link's eyes widen and Ooccoo's face lights up with happiness.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I won't make a sound! In fact, I think I'll go to sleep until we get there!" She says before hopping inside my bag. I put the top over her and then look at Link.

"What? I'm in a good mood."

He shakes his head with a smile and pecks me on the cheek. He continues up to the door in front of us and I'm left to follow without returning the loving gesture. No matter. I can get him back later. When he least expects it…

"Shit...It's locked…" he curses as I walk up to him. We both look around for a clue as to where the key to the door might be and we see two unlit torches nearby. In the past, lighting unlit torches has caused a chest to appear sometimes so it's worth a shot.

" _Here, guys."_

Midna hands Link his lantern and he thanks her, going to the unlit torches afterward. He swings the lantern across both poles and watches them light up with fire. Fortunately for us, a chest really does appear and Link finds a key inside it.

"Hell yeah, here it is," he says to me, holding it up.

"Awesome! Let's get to the next room," I reply. He nods and jogs back to me. He then inserts the key into the lock and we get into the second room of the temple. The first thing we see is a spider crawling around the floor a few feet in front of us. A big one at that.

"Nope. Nope. Nope."

I get behind him and he laughs.

"Yeah, yeah. I know…"

I don't do spiders and never will. They're just so creepy. Oh gods, what if Ooccoo was a spider. There's no way she'd be in my bag right now I can tell you that. Link kills the arachnid monster in no time and says that it's safe to enter the room.

"Thank you."

"No problem," he mutters with a grin before looking around. This room isn't big like the last one. To the right is a giant bell-shaped structure like we saw in the last room. To the left is a pathway leading up to the next room. The only problem is that it's blocked by a gate.

"Of course…" Link mutters in annoyance.

"We should be used to this by now," I say with a giggle. I look down at our feet and notice that there's a small switch-like block in the middle of the floor. I take a step and tap my foot on it, only to see the gate open and then close again.

"Okay, I think we need to put someone on this. Do we have anything we can just come back for or something?" I ask. Before Link can answer, Midna shakes her head and gives us a toothy grin.

" _I'll just stand on it while you two go ahead. I can just turn back into a shadow to get through the gate."_

Great idea, Midna!

"Okay, let's do it," we tell her. She nods and stands on the switch, the gate opening on her command. Link and I go to the other side and she follows us. The gate closes again but she just turns into a shadow to get through it. Alright, room two complete. Link and I make our way up a set of stairs and at the end of them are three lizard soldiers with daggers in their hands. How did they get here!?

"I'll get two on the right while you get the one on the left," Link whispers, readying his sword for an attack. I nod and lunge at my enemy. I slash my sword through him and green blood splatters all over the floor. I scrunch my face up in minor disgust and look to see Link kill off his two enemies. They didn't suspect a thing.

"Hmm, this room isn't that special either. Just another gate and a bell-shaped...thing...I wonder if they do anything or are just for decoration," I say, rubbing my hand over the aged stone of the structure. Link points at a tiny stone statue and says, "you forgot that little guy."

I glance at the little statue, and it's like a switch inside it went off because it immediately glows a bright bluish color. I narrow my eyes at it until the statue actually begins to move at us. It unfolds its arms, which I didn't even know it had, and reveals a giant stone axe.

"What the hell!?" Link yells with a nervous laugh.

"I don't know, but that thing really wants to kill us judging by how determined it is to get to us," I say with the same laugh. It doesn't look like just hitting the thing will hurt it so we draw our eyes to the thing's back. It's the part of its body that glows the brightest. Maybe that could be its blind spot. Link and I both move out of its way as it swings its axe at us. Luckily, its arms are extremely short.

"Let's do that thing that Shade taught us. Roll around it and slash its back. It moves slow but turns fast so that might be our only option," Link says to me.

"Alright, let's see."

I quicken my pace at the killer statue and do the legendary back slice that Shade had taught us way back. I hit the stupid thing twice before it goes absolutely apeshit and blows up into dust.

"Okay…That was...weird," I say. I turn around and smile. "...It doesn't matter though because the thing was guarding a chest."

I crouch down and open the tiny, blue chest. There's a map inside. A map Link will be holding onto since my sense of direction is totally fucked. I take it and hand it to him, our hands brushing against each other for a brief moment. I'm sorry, I still blush when that happens. Even though we're together now, some things never change I guess.

"Good job, Scarlett. Let's see...This doesn't look too complex. You'd think it would since its an ancient temple. But that's cool with me. I see we have another gate blocking us," he says to both me and Midna. She and I nod and look for another switch on the floor to open this one. In this room, there are two switches for the gate and they're on each side of it.

" _That might be a problem...I'm a badass and all but it's not like I can clone myself,"_ Midna remarks.

She's right. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if she really could do something like that. I look around the room for something to place on the switches and I find these cute little vases with tiny horns on their heads! I put my hands to my cheeks when I see them.

"Holy Hylia, look at these things!" I exclaim, picking one out of the two vases up. "...So cute!"

Link chuckles and picks the other one up.

"Yeah, but not as cute as you."

I blush and roll my eyes.

"You're so cheesy."

"It's true though!"

"Mhmm," I hum, giving him an affectionate nudge with my shoulder. I move to set the vase on one of the switches and he does the same for the other. The gate opens as a result of our actions and we're given a path to the third room. Again, we go up a lot of stairs. How many stairs are in this damn temple!?

This third room is...interesting to say the least. First of all, it's large and it has a big round cage. Inside the cage is a pillar with stairs going around it. The pillar itself sits in the middle of a circular pit with tiny crawling insects roaming around it. I guess they would attack you if you accidentally fell into the pit. The pillar is significantly higher than them so I think it's safe just as long as you stay away from the bottom. Link and I walk to the beginning part of the pillar stairs and that's when I see what type of insects are crawling in the pit.

They're all freaking spiders. Spiders with big abdomens and big fangs. The sound they make crawling around on the floor shoots a chill up my spine and I stop before we reach the stairs. I shiver as I speak.

"Spiders...Why spiders?" I ask. Link gives me a sympathetic look and takes my hand.

"I don't know but it's okay. I'm here to protect you and I won't let them touch you. Okay?" He says, looking into my eyes. I look down at the ground and nod, trying to ignore the nasty spiders all around us. Link smiles and kisses my forehead.

"It's just embarrassing. I can't help but be afraid of them...Even the Triforce of Courage can't help me…" I mutter, turning my hand to reveal the triangle-shaped symbol on the back of it. He sighs in response and shrugs his shoulders.

"Who cares? We all have something we're afraid of. It's only natural. I think spiders are creepy too, but judging by how many we've seen so far I bet there are even more as we go deeper into the temple. We're both strong, right? Anything that comes at us is gonna get their ass beat by us!"

I laugh as Link slowly moves me to the stairs.

"Y-Yeah."

"Okay then. Nothing to worry about!"

"Okay, okay! Your right! I'm being stupid!" I yell with a blush on my cheeks. He just smiles at me and shakes his head again. He takes me up the pillar and up here the threat of the tiny spiders seems non-existent. Yeah, I really am being stupid. I need to get over my fear of them…

"You're fine! It's like I said, it's only natural."

" _Ugh, I hate to admit it but you two are really cute together,"_ Midna says with a playful smirk. I never thought that I'd ever hear her say that! I smile big at her while Link just rolls his eyes. He grabs my hand and takes me to the top of the pillar, leaving Midna to scowl at the back of his head.

There are two doors on this floor. One to the right and one to the left. We choose to go to the one on the left based on the map. We walk over to it, passing through the top of the pillar, and find that the door on this side is too high up for us to reach. It's on a ledge like twenty feet up is what I mean. Obviously, Link and I can't make that jump so there must be some way to get up there. Yep, you guessed it. Another set of switches that need to be pressed on.

"Again? Alright, are there any statues like the ones before around?" Link asks, glancing around. He sees some at the bottom of the pillar where the spiders are and then one on the same floor as us. I curse under my breath and sigh.

"Our luck is shit," I say, looking at him. He gives me a countenance I would only see on Midna and I narrow my eyes at him in curiosity. "...You have an idea. An evil one at that."

"Not necessarily evil but…"

He stops mid-sentence and takes out a bomb from his bag. He lights the switch and then drops it from our height all the way down to the many spiders below. I put my hand to my chin and my other arm to my hip as I watch the bomb hits the spiders. Let's just say Link won't have any trouble getting that statue now. He might have to be careful where he steps though. Ugh, disgusting.

"Piece of cake!"

He jogs down the stairs to get the statue and I get the other one that's not that far away from me. As link makes it back to the top of the pillar, I laugh at him.

"You're a genius, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know," He says, walking with me to the two switches. We set them down on the ground and the pressure on the switches causes the floor right in front of them to raise up to the ledge where the door is.

Makes sense.

We take the statues off the switches and the platform goes back down. This time we stand on the platform before we lay the statues down and we're finally able to reach the door. In the next room, there are two more of those little statues that came alive and tried to kill us earlier. Link looks at me and nods his head at one of them.

"I'll get this one and you get that one. Good?"

"Yeah."

I take my sword out and make sure that I roll around the statue as it swings at me with its axe so that I can hit it in the back. Like before, the statue isn't especially strong so it goes down fast. I didn't even break a sweat!

"Nice, Scarlett!"

"You too, Link!"

" _And Midna!"_ Midna screams at us. We give her a look.

"You didn't do anything though…" Link murmurs.

" _I don't care! I want some love too!"_

"Well, too bad!" he yells while laughing before letting her know he's just joking. She glares at him but I know she really doesn't care either way. I gaze at the room we're in and see a chest. In fact, it's the only thing in the room. I open the chest and find a key inside it.

"Hmm...Did the other door need a key?" I ask Link and Midna. They shrug and then I shrug as well. "...I guess we'll see."

I hand Link the key and we go to the other door. It has a lock on it so it really did need a key. Link unlocks it and the chain falls to the floor, giving us access. He opens the door and we both enter together. This room is unique compared to the others. First of all, there is a floating green diamond to the right of us. It spins slowly and reflects the light inside the temple beautifully. The second thing that catches my eye are these small towers with rotating tops on them. By small, I mean like ten feet or something close to that. Taller than me and Link but not by a huge margin. Okay I know Link is just 5'7 and I'm short than him but that doesn't matter! Why are the tops spinning!?

Okay, enough about the stupid towers. The majority of the room is a set pathway, almost in an 'S' shape. However, our entry to the path is blocked by a wall. That would mean that we have to solve the puzzle using the floating crystal. That's what I think.

"Can we touch the crystal?"

"Huh?" Link hums to me. I point at the green crystal and sort of poke it with the end of my sword. It makes a clicking sound and turns a radiant red, making me jump back. Gods, I should've seen that coming. But it doesn't matter because I quickly forget about my mistake and notice the wall that had been blocking us moves out of our way. It moves towards the end of the path so it blocks the end of the pathway. I'm starting to notice a pattern in this place. Everything is back and forth. Like, the switches for example. You have to press them and then take the pressure off of them to get the desired effect. The same goes for this room.

"That seemed to work. And here, there are openings in these walls of the pathway so that we can hit the crystal again and again," Link informs me. He starts to walk to the spot where the wall was blocking while I look back at the crystal again. I don't know, I just love the color of it. It's like an expensive jewel you'd find in a store back in Castle Town…

" _Link, watch out!"_ Midna warns in an urgent tone. I turn around to see Link gasp in pain and fall back on the ground.

"Link! Are you okay!? What happened!?"

He winces and points at the tower with the spinning top. I turn my head and see that the top that's spinning has a red spot on it. The redness glows like the jewel near us. I look back at Link and lay my hand on his chest.

"Did it shoot at you? Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, it got me in the shoulder. It felt like a bad burn for a couple seconds but it's starting to feel better now," he says to me. Still, I give him a concerned look and lean in to give him a hug.

"T-Thank you," he whispers. I pull back, kiss him, and then sigh.

"Why are you always getting hurt?" I ask with a small laugh. He slowly smiles and then rubs the back of his head.

"I don't even know anymore."

"Well, we need to figure out how to stop that from happening from now on!" I say, helping him off the ground. Midna chimes in and agrees with me while Link continues to look embarrassed. At least he's not injured or anything. I can't stand to see that handsome face of his in pain. It literally makes my heart ache.

"Let's try this again…"

Link slowly moves towards the tower and the spinning top stops spinning and the red dot locks onto him. It shoots a red ray of heat at him but the ray only hits the floor a few inches from his feet.

"I think it hit me because I was moving too fast and not paying attention. If we keep our distance, it can't hurt us," he says.

"Do you think there's a way to kill it?" I ask him. He looks at the red dot on the tower and then glances at the red jewel. He thinks for a minute and then looks at me.

"Try hitting it with an arrow. You and I both know your aim is better than mine," He jokes. I smile and take out my bow and arrow, drawing the string back with the arrow attached. I let it fly into the red dot and the tower explodes. Yeah, no joke. The thing freakin' explodes! I've gotta say, that made me feel like a badass!

"Holy crap! That was awesome!" Link yells with a grin.

"I know right! That felt so good!"

"I'm glad because there's another one on the other side of the pathway," he says as we move through the pathway in the middle of the room. As Link said, there are openings in the wall so that I can hit the crystal again. I hit it with an arrow and the wall blocking our path moves back to its original position. Once again, the tower on this side of the room tries to kill us. I simply put an arrow in its "eye" so that it too explodes into pieces. I still can't believe they just explode on impact. It's kind of hilarious.

"I hope the next room isn't like this one," Link mutters to me with a frown.

"It probably will be," I laugh.

"I know…" he says in defeat.

The next room? Yeah, it's exactly like the last one. The only difference is that it's bigger. To be honest, there's not much to say about it. Link and I do the same thing we did in the last room. There are a couple lizard enemies in here but Link quickly takes them out while I hit the jewel with my bow and arrow. But yeah, that's about it for this room. Did I mention we have to go up stairs, because that's what we do. Geez, this sucks…

"Oh Hylia…"

Link makes it to the top of the stairs before I do and I hear him say that under his breath.

"What is it?" I ask before I reach the top. Only now do I see why he said that. This room is covered in those tiny spider things. My whole body freezes up and Link gives me a worried look.

"U-Uhh...Scarlett? Are you okay…?"

I don't say anything. I just focus on the creepy little bastards in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that the back of my hand starts to blink a golden light and I look at it to see my triforce glowing the light at me. I don't know how, but it calms me down a little bit in just seeing the soothing light. Link says my name again and I look up at him.

"Wait here. I got this," I tell him. His blue eyes widen in surprise.

"Really?"

I nod and turn my attention to all the spiders in the room. Taking a deep breath, I grip the master sword in my hands and start running forward.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Die you fucking spiders! Die! Ahhhhhh!" I scream like an idiot as I run forward, swinging my sword vigorously with my eyes glued shut. If I don't look at them they can't gross me out. I do hear the sound of them dying and feel my sword hit their tiny little bodies though. When I don't feel anything anymore I open one eye and see that all of the spiders are dead in front of me. Both Link and Midna's mouths are wide open.

" _What the hell was that!?"_

"I don't know but what I do know is that Scarlett is a total badass!" Link answers Midna. He runs to me and picks me up, twirling me around in his arms.

"I'm so proud of you! That was both badass and funny as crap!" He laughs. I really didn't mean to make that look funny but I'll take it.

"Whatever, I'm just glad I was able to kill them all. My arms are still itchy from thinking about them," I say, rubbing them. I look around us and see two doors in this room. Two we haven't explored yet. They're both on upper floors in the room so I start walking up the stairs with Link walking with me. We come upon our next puzzle of the temple which is just a simple scale and weight issue. There are two of those little cute statues again. And each one is on a flat scale. When you step on the scale it lowers down because it's heavier obviously. To fix this, we just throw the statue on one scale on the other with the second one to bring us to the top floor. As I said, there are two doors for us to go through so we look at the map before deciding.

"This door seems to lead to a dead end room and then this one goes deeper into the temple," Link says. I nod as I look over the parchment.

"Do you wanna split up. Me go to the dead end room and you go to the other one?" I ask. He looks at me and slightly smiles.

"You want to?"

"Sure! Plus, when I catch up to you you will have already killed everything in our way for me!" I cheer. He snorts and looks at Midna.

"Oh, so that's why you want to do that. Okay, fine with me. Just to be sure that you're safe why don't you let Midna go with you," he says to me. Aww, he's concerned for my safety. Though, I doubt Midna would help me fight petty enemies like these; not unless I was in serious danger. She's lazy like that.

"Okay. And you be safe too! Hylia knows that you're the one who almost gets himself killed every battle!"

"I just have shit luck, okay!? Alright, just catch up to me when you guys get done with that room."

"Got it," I tell him as Midna and I go to the dead end room and he goes to the other.

* * *

 **(Link POV)**

Man, I hope nothing too dangerous is in that room Scarlett is going into. Midna's with her so I'm not too worried but still. I stop in place and laugh at myself for a moment.

"What am I thinking…" I mutter to myself. Getting together with Scarlett has totally made me forget that she is...essentially the other half of me. She's the chosen heroine of Hyrule. She doesn't need me to hold her hand through everything. She can handle herself. I guess it's just a habit of mine to worry about her. That's what you do for people you care about. But, I know she'll be okay wherever she is without me. I just need to stop being...overprotective.

"There ya go, Link. You got your mind all back on track," I tell myself happily as I move on forward. I enter the next room and see another one of those evil towers surrounded by these spinning balls covered in spikes. There's about three of them just rotating around the tower. Behind it is another one of those bell-shaped structures, and to the left of it is the pathway forward. First, I take out the tower with my bow and arrow. Then, I make sure to step around the spinning balls so I don't get hurt like Scarlett predicted I would. She's kind of right about that…but not this time! I manage to get to the pathway unscathed and walk up a set of stairs. I hear a couple lizardmen up ahead so I ready my sword. When I get to the top, they see me and try to attack me. They get their asses kicked. That's all I'm gonna say.

As their bodies explode into dark dust, a swinging pendulum catches my eye. Behind it is a blue chest.

"Alright Link, don't be a dumbass and get hit by the stupid pendulum…"

I walk to the chest when the pendulum swings to the side and I open it right away. I find a small key inside so I'm glad I'm making some progress. Dodging the pendulum once again, I continue up yet another set of stairs. Scarlett really hates stairs. It's so cute when she whines about them because her face gets all red and pouty. Oh Gods, I hear spiders crawling up ahead.

I reach the top and see the room is covered in small spiders and then another one of those killer statues. Ugh...I'm getting really tired of killing these things. For the spiders, I just throw a bomb again. Boom, done! For the statue, I battle it like normal. I hit its back a couple times and it's destroyed. As I begin to put my sword back into its sheath, a blue chest appears in the back of the room.

"Okay, cool," I say with a smile. I go to the chest and find a small key inside. It must be for the door that's a few feet away from me. Luckily for me, it's the only door in the room. I like a dungeon to be more linear so I can remember where everything is more easily. It doesn't hurt to have a map though. Even with it, I sometimes get confused about where we are. But anyway, I take the key from the chest and walk to the door with a lock on it. In front of the door is another large bell-shaped structure. Okay, now I'm really curious as to why those are here. I'm seeing them everywhere! I bet I'll find out soon enough. I always do. I open the door and find myself in a dark room. I can barely see ahead of me. I take a step forward and I hear a sound behind me where I just came in. I turn around and see that the door has been covered with a steel metal blanket, making it impossible to open now.

"That's not good…" I whisper with dread written all over my face. Can you blame me? Whenever something like this happens, it usually means that there's a tough enemy up ahead. A tough enemy that could potentially kick my ass or even kill me if I'm not careful. I silently groan at the thought of that before taking a few more steps forward. I take my sword back out and grip it as my heart starts to race. I'm not scared or anything. I should be used to this by now…

I walk until I reach a huge room with a few windows in it. The windows let in light, relieving the room from the darkness I had just been in. Now that I can see, I spot a dark figure in the middle of the room just staring at the glossy floor. Behind him is a similar-looking statue with an axe in its hands. So...I either have to fight the dark figure or that statue...Or both...Crap.

"Uh...Hi?"

I know it's a stretch but the figure in the middle of the room could be friendly. Probably not. Most likely not. But hey! Anything's possible! At the sound of my voice, the figure looks up and then turns around. It's a dark knight! And he looks pissed! He grunts at me angrily and raises up a huge broadsword in the air menacingly. I gulp and slowly raise my shield. Seriously, why does this always have to happen to me!? Thank Hylia Scarlett isn't here. The knight is probably two or three times larger than me. I feel like a little kid standing in front of him. He grunts again and raises a shield in his other hand. I glare at him for a moment before I run at him. I swing my sword and it bounces off his shield. He does the same with his broadsword at me and I barely manage to block the blow with my shield. The impact of the broadsword hitting my shield rattles my whole body and I'm pushed back a couple of feet. This guy's really strong, but I've faced stronger. I try rolling around him like I do with the statues and I actually hit him a couple of times with a jab of my sword. Tiny pieces of his armor fly off when I do and he jumps back.

"A shield is useless if you don't know how to use it," I say to him mockingly as I bounce on the balls of my feet. The knight growls at me and rushes towards me with his next attack. I roll out of the way as his broadsword slams into the floor. This gives me another opening and I take it. I slash him as many as five times, each hit causing another piece of armor to tear away from his body. He yells in pain before he tries to smack me with his shield. I raise my shield up and block it, effectively knocking him back. I then slash at his body once again and take a couple more pieces of his armor away from him. This is when he gets really mad. After a couple hits, he screams at me and raises his shield once more. I guess the master sword can cut through anything given the right amount of force because the blade cuts through his shield and destroys it.

"Arghhhh!" He yells again, dashing backward. I take a moment to catch my breath as I keep an eye on him. I think I've got this in the bag. He's getting too angry to think clearly so he keeps making mistakes.

The knight, when he gets done screaming, picks up his large broadsword with both hands and throws it at me. My eyes widen and I dive to the side as the sword flies past me. Did he just throw his sword at me!? What the hell!? I quickly get off the ground to see him take out a rapier from a sheath on his hip. I don't remember seeing that on him, but I can't think about that right now. I carefully scoot up to him as he stands there with his sword out. I slash my sword at him and he blocks it with his own. He then lifts his leg and kicks me right in the stomach, sending me flying on the floor. I gasp and hold my stomach. I stay on the floor for a few seconds and then get up while still holding my abdomen. I grit my teeth and try to think of something before the knight gets to me. He's very slow but also very powerful. For some reason, I think he's better without his shield and huge broadsword. That means I need to figure out if I can actually hit him or not with my sword. I take my hand off my stomach and sprint at him again. This time I make small jabs at him. He blocks each one. I try harder attacks and the same thing happens.

Every so often, he returns my attacks but I block his sword with my shield. Whenever he tries to kick me, I dash to the side. After ten minutes of this, I give myself some distance from him and try to catch my breath. This knight is a bitch, that's for sure. If I can't hit him with my sword, maybe I can get hit him with one of my other weapons. I sheath my sword and then take out my bow and arrow. I draw the arrow back and then let it go. The knight makes no attempt to block the arrow and lets it hit him right in the face. Because he is wearing armor, the arrow does not damage him. I didn't think it would. Him not blocking the arrow is the important part. It gives me an idea immediately when I see it.

I quickly grab a bomb from my bag and attach it to one of my arrows. I look up at the knight and he's slowly walking towards me, unaware of what I'm doing. I smile on the inside and light the match on the bomb before drawing the string back on my bow. Just before the bomb explodes I release it and shoot at the knights head. It, again, doesn't bother blocking the arrow. Because of this, the bomb explodes right in his face, sending him to the ground in an instant. His rapier flies one way while his body flies another. I put my bow away and take my sword out again in case he gets up. I watch as he lays on the floor and doesn't get up. I cross my fingers and hope that he doesn't. Fortunately, his body vanishes into dark dust in front of me.

"Finally…My gods…"

As I put my hands on my knees to take a quick breather, I hear a clicking noise in the back of the room. I look up and see two golden gates open to reveal a large chest in all its bright, shiny glory. That's the best part about these really tough enemies. There's always a chest that appears right after them. And being the adventures guy that I am, I just gotta see what's inside that chest! I run over to it in excitement and open it as soon as I can get my fingers on the lid. My eyes brighten at what I find. There are two rods in the chest; both about the size of a small staff maybe. It's silver in color and has three wing-like arches at the tip of it. I pick both of them up and twirl one of them with my fingers. There's gold lettering carved in the side of the rod.

 _Hero's Dominion Rod._

Wow, this is...interesting to say the least. I don't even know what it does. I raise it up in the air and let it reflect off the light. When I do, the tip of the rod starts to glow a green and yellow ball of light. I tilt my head in confusion seeing it and the rod starts to pull me back a little bit.

Back and up to be specific.

I turn around and it feels like the rod is pulling me up towards the large statue with the axe. The rod continues to pull me and it gets annoying so I swing the rod in mild frustration, only to see the ball of light shoot from the tip of the rod and go into the statue's body! The carving design in the statue turns the same color as the orb and it comes to life! Yes, I'm not kidding! It raises its axe but that's all it does before it stops moving again.

"What in the world...Are you going to move…?" I ask it. As if this thing would answer me. I furrow my eyebrows at it and start to walk to the door. It jumps off the ledge and hops after me, stopping when I stop. Did the rod take control of the statue? I take another few steps towards the door and the statue hops every time I take a step.

"Holy crap, that's awesome," I laugh. It's just so funny watching it hop around. It's like I have a new buddy to hang out with! I walk to the door, still laughing, and wait for the statue to reach me. It turns out that the bell-shaped structures really do have a special function. Before the statue can reach me, it stops abruptly right below the bell. That's a good word for it. The bell. Yeah, anyway, the bell lowers and encases the statue. It's not there when it raises back up so it did something. I just don't know what. Behind me, the metal chain on the door falls and gives me access to the exit.

Scarlett is probably done with her room by now so I should be seeing her in a bit. I exit the room and find the statue in this room now. The bells are like transporters in a way. There's one in every room so I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to get the statue through the temple in this fashion.

So that's what I do. In every room I've been in I figure out a way to bring the statue to the room's bell so that it can go to the next room. Along the way, I figure out that whenever I swing the rod forward the statue does the same with its axe. That could definitely come in handy in the future. It might even give me and Scarlett a much-needed break.

I help transport the statue through each room until I reach the room where Scarlett and I separated. As I open the door to the room, she is doing the same on the other side and we accidentally bump into each other.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" she stutters in embarrassment. I chuckle at her beautiful face covered in the color red and give her a hug.

"It's not your fault, Scarlett. I missed you," I say. She smiles and wraps her arms around my back.

"I missed you too…"

I see Midna wave her hands at me and I look at her. She has a determined look on her face.

" _Did you miss me!?"_

I smile and sigh.

"Yes, I missed you too."

She pumps her fist in success and Scarlett pulls away to look at me.

"What happened with you?" She asks with that lovely smile of hers. I grin and hold up her dominion rod. Her emerald eyes go big and she slowly takes the rod in her hands. "...What is this?"

"It's a dominion rod. That's what it says on the side so that's what I've been calling it. It's really cool!" I tell her in excitement. "...Basically, it takes control of some of the statues in the temple. There should be...Oh, there it is," I say, the statue catching my eye. I point at it and then up at the bell above it. "...The bell acts like a transporter. It takes the statue through each room. I'm still trying to figure out what it will do in the end but it's going pretty good right now. How about you? Did you find anything in the room you went in?"

She smirks and takes out a large key from her bag.

"That does sound cool. And yep! I found the boss key! The reason it took me so long was because the room was filled with more spiders and...Well, you know me."

"You don't do spiders."

"Right," she says with a grin. I smile and wipe the sweat forming on my forehead.

"You want to continue on?" I ask her. She nods and puts her dominion rod in her bag along with the boss key that she found. I turn to the statue under the bell and take control of it with my rod. Scarlett watches with awe as I maneuver the statue down the stairs and past the scales. I had to balance the weight but that took a lot of problem-solving and I really don't think anybody cares about that. I move the statue all the way down the stairs to the designated bell and the bell takes the statue to the next room. Nothing new here.

"That's so cool," Scarlett says to me as we walk to the next room.

"Yeah, you don't even want to know how I got the two rods. There was this knight and he was a bitch to fight but I beat him."

"Ugh, you fight this big bad knight while I still cringe at the thought of fighting stupid little spiders. I'm hopeless."

I give her a look and she gives me the cutest look I've ever seen. That, or it's just her normal face. She has a certain effect on me I can't quite describe. Is that normal? I've never been in a relationship before…

"Shh," I hush her, kissing her on the lips. I do it so fast that I leave her dazed for a second.

"O-Okay…" She mutters, following me. Midna chuckles under her breath in the background and I smile to myself as we walk to where the next bell is. This is the room where there were walls that blocked us so instead of hitting the red and green diamond with an arrow I take control of the statue and hit the wall with the axe. It freaking destroys the whole thing in one swing!

"I didn't think that would work but who cares!" I exclaim.

"That statue is a beast!" Scarlett yells out. She pats the statue on the back in appreciation for what he did for us. I'll have to agree with her on that. We might have to bring this thing with us when we fight Ganondorf and Zant!

"I know, right? There's no telling what other things this rod can control," I bring up as we walk past the rubble of the wall that used to be there. We hit the next wall that is blocking our path and continue downstairs. Looking at the map, we're so close to the first room of the temple. I have a feeling that's where I'm supposed to take this statue.

"So, we're just taking it back through the temple until we find a use for it?" Scarlett asks me. My eyes grow big at her because it's like she was reading my mind just now.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

"Hmm, it's probably something in the first room that we went in at the beginning of the temple," she says in observation. I smile and nod at her. Great minds think alike, don't they.

She, I, and Midna...and the statue...keep on moving down every single set of stairs that we had to go up earlier. At least it's downhill. We don't find anything along the way that would have to do with the statue other than the bells. We reach the room with the pillar and stop. This is the room right before the first one and this one is just as large I'm pretty sure.

"Alright, let's look and see if there's anything for this statue to go in or break through. This is the last room before the first so it's either this room or that one. And if it's neither then we're pretty much screwed," I tell the two girls with a small laugh. They both laugh but I'm not kidding. The two of them look on the bottom floor of the room while I stay on the top with the statue. Now, in case anyone was wondering, there is another room in this one that we haven't explored. I went in and all I found was a chest with a rupee worth 50 in it. Hey! I'm not complaining! Money is money!

"Hey, find anything down there?" I yell at them from the edge of the balcony. They shake their heads and I click my tongue in disappointment. "...Yeah, me neither. I guess that leaves the first room then. Let me bring the statue to the bell and then I'll meet you guys over there. Try to see if there's anywhere we can put this thing.

"Got it!" They both say before walking down the stairs that leads to the first room. I watch them go and then swing my dominion rod at the statue again.

"Come on, buddy, let's get you to the last bell."

I help the statue downstairs and to the bell before going to the first room myself. I get there and the first thing I see is Scarlett's excited face. She's ecstatic!

"Link, we found where the statue needs to go. The door was in front of us the whole time! See, there's one statue next to the door and the other statue is missing. This must be the one it needs to open."

I look at her in confusion and look at the far side of the room. I see the door she's talking about and mentally slap myself across the face. When we entered the temple, we were met with the sight of the bell. We decided to skip looking at it and went up the staircase instead. It was blocking our view of the door! But now that I'm on top of the stairs I can see it perfectly! I hate myself...I really do…

"Wow, we're so dumb sometimes," I say.

"Yeah, I said the same thing to Midna when we saw it…" she mutters. I shrug my shoulders and smile.

"Oh well. Can't do anything about it now. At least we know where the statue goes," I tell her, going down the staircase and up to the bell where the statue stands. I swing my rod at it and take control of it. I then move it to the other side of the door and it lights up with a beautiful yellow before opening. This pathway isn't on the map so this is unknown territory. Being the insane bunch that we are, we enter through the door and it closes behind us.

" _We're at the end of the temple aren't we?"_ Midna whispers to us.

"Probably," Scarlett and I both say. We look at what's in front of us and all three of us give a collective sigh. That's because what's in front of us is a literal obstacle course of death! It's everything you can think of. There are spikes, rolling bars covered in spikes, open gaps in the floor, death towers that shoot lasers, and a gate blocking our path at the end. However, I do see the big boss door at the end of this little death course.

"Oh gods, what should we do about this?" Scarlett asks me with her hands on her hips. I shrug my shoulders again because there's really no way you can do this safely. She stares at the death traps for a few seconds and then looks at me like she has a plan. I give her a hopeful look as she begins to speak.

"I say we just run for our lives through it!"

...What…?

"Huh?"

"Yeah! Watch!"

"Scarlett! Wait!" I yell as she jumps over a deep gap in the ground and runs as fast as she can through everything that could kill her in two seconds. She dodges everything. The lasers, the spikes, everything. She reaches the end where the gate is and then turns around to give me the smuggest grin I've ever seen. I bite my lip and glance at Midna.

" _Don't look at me, I can just turn into a shadow and fly through this shit. You, on the other hand, might have some trouble."_

"Thank you so much for your confidence in me," I say with my voice dripping with sarcasm. Well...Here goes nothing. I jump over the gap and then run as fast as I can through everything. I manage to dodge the lasers and I'm so happy about that that I almost get hit by the rolling bar with the spikes.

"Be careful!" Scarlett yells at me.

"I know!" I yell back, moving around the bar and then stopping at the pendulums. "...What the hell!? I didn't know these were here!"

"Well, they are so you better not get hit by them!" Scarlett screams at me angrily. I groan and wait for the pendulums to swing outward. That's when I make my jump through another abyss in the floor and finally reach Scarlett on the other side. I put my hands on my knees and breathe hard, my heart beating fast. Scarlett smiles and kisses my cheek.

"I knew you could do it!"

"Yeah, barely," I say through heavy breaths. I stand up straight and tighten my fist in front of me. "...Now that that's over we can finally take on whatever monster lies at the end of this tunnel. All we have to do is just get past this gate," I tell her. She takes out her dominion rod and swings it at a small statue that's sitting beside us. The one she thought was cute. She then walks forward and walks the statue on a tiny switch beside us.

"I saw this when I got over here. And ta-da!" She exclaims as the gate opens. I grin and shake my head.

"You are so amazing."

"All I did was put the statue on a stupid switch, Link," she says while giggling.

"I know but you ARE amazing, no matter what you do," I reply. I see her blush while Midna pretends to gag. If I remember correctly, she said we were a good couple!

"You're so sweet, you know that? Everything you do is amazing too."

She takes a step towards me and gently closes her eyes, her face tilted up at me. I blush as well and close my eyes to kiss her but Midna ruins it.

" _Guys, come on! You can make out when we get out of the temple. For now, we have a boss to kill. Move your asses!"_

We both glare at her and kiss anyway. I mean, what's she gonna do? Oh wait, she can turn us into wolves...Shit...Okay, we better stop. I pull away and smile at Scarlett fondly before turning to Midna.

"Alright, we'll wait until we're out of here, Midna."

" _Thank the gods!"_ She yells at the sky. Scarlett and I both roll our eyes and then walk to the large door with the huge lock on it. Surprisingly, there is a fairy that is flying near the door. I don't know how it got here but I quickly capture it in a bottle.

"A fairy?" Scarlett says in thought.

"Mhmm. We already have one but two couldn't hurt. I don't think we'll ever need them but you never know," I tell her. She frowns a little bit and looks at the ground. It's not a real good thought for me either. I take the key Scarlett and Midna found and insert it into the lock, letting the chain fall to the ground with a thud. I look at the girl beside me before I open the door.

"You ready?"

"Yeah. You?"

I nod and proceed to open the door leading to the monster of the temple. We all enter the dark room and see four beams of light on the floor. In front of each beam of light is a statue that is similar to that of the one I had to take control of throughout the temple. We're not fighting them, are we? I jump when Scarlett suddenly clutches my arm and buries her face in my shoulder.

"Scarlett? What's wrong?"

"L-Look up…" she says very quietly in a frightened voice. I look up and feel a chill run down my spine. Why? Well, it's because there's a humongous fucking spider on the ceiling. And I don't use the term 'humongous' lightly. This spider is big. Really big. It's the size of a damn house! A small house but a house nonetheless! It appears to be a tarantula since it's covered in hair. What isn't spider-like is that it has a big eye in the middle of its body. An eye? In the past, that has been the weak spot for many of the monsters we have faced so far…

"Link, I don't think I can do this. The smaller ones, sure, but this…" Scarlett whispers to me. I grab her arms and look her in the eyes. It looks like she's about to cry just by how they are glistening. I give her a sympathetic look and rub her arms up and down.

"No, no you can do this. I know you can. You're strong, Scarlett. You're courageous. I'm here with you so you're not alone," I tell her quietly. The spider hasn't spotted us so I would like to keep it that way. Scarlett looks away from me in doubt and I move my head to meet her gaze again. "...I have a plan. You see that eye up there? I want you to shoot it with your bow and arrows. Since there are statues in here, I think I can take control of them to hit the spider. I know you hate spiders so I'm going to distract the spider for as long as I can. All you have to do is run and shoot at its eye."

She frowns at me and sighs a little.

"I...don't want you to have to do all the work. I want to be more useful I just...I'm sorry…"

"Shh, it's okay. You _are_ being useful, Scarlett. If you can hit that eye than we'll be all set."

She slowly takes out her bow and arrow and I can tell that she's shaking. I place my hand over hers and lightly bump her arm confidently.

"Don't be afraid. If you miss, just shoot again. You've got this."

"O-Okay…"

" _Link's right, Scarlett. Plus, this is your chance to face your fear head-on,"_ Midna says, nudging her shoulder with her elbow. Scarlett nods in response and draws back one of her arrows on the bowstring. She aims at the unsuspecting spider eye and glances at me before she shoots.

"Don't be surprised if I miss…"

"Don't worry. If you do, just try again," I say with a smile. She sighs and goes silent as she tries to concentrate. I turn to the spider in enough time to see Scarlett shoot her arrow. The arrow just barely misses the eye and the giant spiders sturs, the eye growing wide when it sees us. That's not good. It starts to move at us on the ceiling and Scarlett draws another arrow.

"It's okay, like I said, just try again."

She's still shaking but looks determined to kill this thing. She takes a deep breath and shoots again. This time, she hits the eye directly and the spider screeches in pain. As cringe-worthy as the scream is, I ready my dominion rod. The spider falls from the ceiling and hits the ground right where one the light beams is. Perfect! I run over to the statue and swing my dominion rod at it. The little orb at the end of the rod takes control of the statue and I quickly attack the spider's stomach, seeing as how it landed on its back. Instead of an axe, the statues in this room have fists so the statue pounds the spider's stomach hard. My plan is working so far. We might have to do this a few times though. The spider screeches again but gets up. I expect it to attack me but it crawls up to the ceiling instead.

"Good shot, Scarlett! Let's do the same thing again!"

"Alright!"

Scarlett draws her bowstring and I visibly see her mutter something under her breath in frustration. I narrow my eyes and look at the spider overhead. It's a disgusting sight to see. Out of its huge ass comes at least twenty spider eggs that hit the ground. They hatch as soon as they touch the floor and twenty of the same spiders we fought throughout the temple come crawling out.

"Concentrate on the spider! I've got these!" I yell across the room. Scarlett doesn't say anything but I can tell she heard me. Like I said, I turn my attention to the spiders the huge one just crapped out. Yeah, this is my life now…

It doesn't take me long to kill them off. By the time I kill the last one, Scarlett's still trying to shoot the eye in the middle of the spider's body. I can see why she's having so much trouble with it. The spider is constantly moving around on the ceiling and the eye can open and close whenever it wants. It's like a protective shield when it's closed. The good thing is that it can't seem to stay closed for a long time. Another good thing is that Scarlett isn't the only one with a bow and arrow. Two heads are better than one, right?

I take my bow and arrow out and aim at the eye. It's solely concerned with Scarlett so I'm able to hit it as soon as the eye opens again. It roars in both surprise and pain before falling to the ground, this time near Scarlett. She backs away from the upside down spider so she's obviously not comfortable with being anywhere near the ugly creature. I run as fast as I can to where she is so I can use my dominion rod but Scarlett does it for me! I stop in my tracks and watch her take control of the statue in front of the spider. She then pounds its body hard. So hard that it makes the ground shake.

I'm so shocked at Scarlett's actions that I don't even realize that the spider has already flipped over and crawled back up on the ceiling. Scarlett runs to me with a big smile on her face.

"Did you see me!?"

"Y-Yeah...Yeah! I did! You did awesome! You weren't scared?" I ask her.

"Of course I was scared! That thing totally creeps me out! But, I know I can't let it get to me in the heat of the moment, you know? I think we've almost killed it. That last hit looked like it cracked its exoskeleton from where I was standing. One more time and he's done," she says to me, all while watching the spider above out of the corner of her eye.

"If that's the case, let's get this over with!" I tell her with a grin. She grins too and we separate to the opposite ends of the room. The spider, being the dumb creature that it is, becomes confused again and Scarlett manages to shoot its eye for the third time. It lands close to me so I take control of the statue this time. With Scarlett's words ringing in my ears, I swing my rod down as hard as I can and the statue slams its fist on the spider's body. The spider screams and curls its many legs in and out before exploding into dust.

Finally, that stupid thing is...What...the hell?

The spider explodes into dark dust but the eye still remains! And apparently, the eye is a spider too! Again, what the hell!? The eye pops its little legs out and starts crawling away from me. Seriously, is this a joke? Scarlett jogs over to me and points at the eye with her thumb.

"I don't know how that thing survived, but how about we bombard it with arrows?" she suggests. I laugh and nod. This thing's toast. She and I draw our bowstrings back and shoot at the spider eye until it stops moving and blows up into dark dust as well, leaving behind a heart-shaped container and a shard of the Mirror of Twilight.

" _Another shard! That's three! We only need one left!"_ Midna tells us in delight as she flies over to the shard and slips it into her hidden inventory. No one knows where she puts all her crap. I just know it comes in handy when we have too much junk to carry around. As for me and Scarlett, we walk over to the heart container and break it as usual. The red substance inside shoots into our bodies and invigorates us to a new level. It's the feeling of getting a really good sleep. It's very relieving!

"That makes it all worthwhile," I say.

"I agree," Scarlett replies. She lays her head on my shoulder sleepily and looks at Midna.

"Midna, let's get out of here."

"Wait! Wait!"

Scarlett gasps and jumps as Ooccoo flies out of her bag and on the ground. I forgot she was even here…

"This is it. This is the place I've been looking for!" She tells us with elation. I smile and cross my arms over my chest.

"So...this is the last time we'll be seeing you?"

"Yep! This is the room I've been looking for. The room I'm destined to give birth to my ninety-nine babies.

"Well, that's...Wait, what!?" Scarlett screams in confusion. Ooccoo giggles and taps her body.

"You didn't know? I've been extremely pregnant ever since we met! In fact, now that I'm in the room the goddess Hylia instructed me to be in, I think they're all coming at the same time right now!"

Scarlett and I stare at her as the room becomes quiet. What happens next is a complete blur…

"Huahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Ooccoo gets in a...birthing position...and begins screaming as loudly as she can. I feel Scarlett clutch my arm as I hear her start to scream too.

"Midna, get us out of here! Get us out of here!"

Midna hastily snaps her fingers and we're out of the temple for good.

Being in the Temple of Time was a really cool experience and I will never forget it. Scarlett conquered her fear of spiders and we found the third mirror shard. And how could I forget that this is also the place where Scarlett and I finally confessed our feelings to each other?

But, now that we're finally done with the temple and never have to enter it again, all I can say is...Thank Hylia…

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Yeah, it took me a long time. I had bad writer's block for this chapter but I got it done. It is pretty long since it's a dungeon chapter so that's the main reason. I changed some things about the temple if you didn't notice. First, the temple is fairly linear so I thought it would be boring if I described every single aspect of it since it's a little repetitive with the statue. Also, the spider boss shoots a laser too but I chose not to include it. I hope you guys are okay with that! Anyway, please review or comment and tell me what you guys think so far! Let me just say the reviews so far have been awesome so thank you! Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time! Hopefully much faster than this chapter!**


	29. Chapter 29: Ilia's Memory

**Hey guys! It is time for another chapter of Heroes of Twilight! I moved back into my apartment and start college tomorrow. Summer just kind of flies by doesn't it? Hopefully, this year goes really good. And this is the year that I finish this story. It's almost done. I'd say maybe like five more chapters are left. I'm not really sure. Maybe more than that. Anyway, please review or comment and tell me what you guys think! Also, let me know what you think about the Legend of Zelda stories after this one! Finally, thanks so much for reading and here is the chapter!**

* * *

Ch. 29: Ilia's Memory

 **(Link's POV)**

Midna transported us to the first room of the Temple of Time. The room where Scarlett and I had spent the night. I look over at Scarlett and she is still visibly shaken by what had almost occurred in front of us. I place a hand on her arm and we both look down at the ground as we walk out of the temple for good.

In the Sacred Grove, we all begin to shake our heads in unison.

"I'm so glad you teleported us away, Midna. That could've been really bad!" I say to her. She gives me a wide-eyed look as if she's saying she was thinking the same thing and nods.

" _I freaking know. I wasn't about to watch that thing give birth to smaller equally ugly things. Ugh. How you holding up, Scarlett?"_ she asks her.

"Never better…" Scarlett replies. She gives one last shake with her head and then looks at me and Midna. "...Let's...never speak of this again. Where do we go from here? Back to Telma's Bar? Kakariko Village? Where?"

I think for a minute and the thought of Ilia crosses my mind for some reason. I wonder if she's regained her memory.

"How about we go to Kakariko Village? To see the kids and Ilia," I suggest. She raises a suspecting eyebrow and smirks.

"See Ilia, huh?"

It takes me a moment to realize her teasing tone.

"N-Not like that! You're the only one for me, Scarlett!"

She laughs and begins walking towards the exit of the Sacred Grove, "I'm just teasing. But sure, we can go see if she has regained any of her memory yet. You can tell her that she lost her chance of getting with you."

I blink in surprise and she laughs again.

"I'm just kidding! That would be so mean! But...to tell you the truth, Link...Whenever you talked about Ilia in the past I think I sort of got jealous."

"What? Really?" I say, honestly surprised. She nods.

"Mhmm. I don't know if I knew I was jealous back then though...Does that make sense?" she asks. I smile and take her hand with mine.

"Yeah. It does. Luckily for me, I didn't have any competition," I tell her with a grin as we reach the outer edge of the Sacred Grove. She snorts at my comment and looks up at the sky in thought. She then closes her eyes and nods.

"Of course you didn't have any competition. All of the guys in Castle Town are self-absorbed and rude. All of them except my friend, Dante, but I've never had any feelings for him. It would've been weird. But yep, I didn't need a guy from the town. What I needed was a country boy!" She yells with glee, making me roll my eyes and blush at the same time. She giggles and lays her head on my shoulder as we walk. Midna, who is behind us, snaps her fingers and we suddenly find ourselves in our wolf forms. We both glare at her but she flicks both of our canine noses.

"Don't give me those looks! I turned you into wolves so you could get back to Faron woods and then to Kakariko Village faster. You're distracted if you're all lovey-dovey with each other," she says with a devilish grin. A grin I've seen way too many times. But she does have a point. We have to get back to the Faron Woods the same way we came so that's what we do...Just without the chicken...When we get back to the woods, Scarlett and I take off in a sprint for Kakariko Village.

We get there before the sun sets and Midna turns us back into humans at the front of the village.

"Midna, I don't think I'll ever get used to the feeling of my bones literally shifting into an animal's," Scarlett tells her with a groan.

" _Yeah, well, if we defeat Zant and Ganondorf quick enough you won't have to worry about getting used to it."_

"That's true," she admits to the twilight imp. I smile and look at the Shaman's home where Ilia and the kids from back home are staying. I tell Midna and Scarlett to follow me in seeing them and then go to the front door of the hut. I knock and Renado answers the door. His facial features lighten and he lets us in.

"Link. Scarlett. It's nice to see you. How has your journey been?" he asks us.

"Exhausting!" Scarlett replies, sitting on the couch. He smiles and looks at me.

"I suspected as much. Have you come here for anything? Anything I can do?"

"No, we just came to check up on everyone. Any update on Ilia's memory?" I ask him.

"Ah, you'll be happy to know that I think I may have found a way to bring her memory back. I meant to send this letter to Telma myself but since you two are here I will just give it to you. It'll be safer that way. That postman is not right. I can tell," Renado says. I glance at Scarlett and she's trying so hard not to laugh right now. In case anyone forgot, she really despises that creepy postman with the short-shorts…

"Alright, thanks! We'll get that to her as soon as possible! And thank you for taking the time to do that. It means a lot."

"It is no problem. It is hard to find something to do in this village. The research was quite compelling to me. Speaking of research, there is someone you might know in the basement. His name is Shad and he is studying the ancient statues that we have down there. Does his name sound familiar to you?" he asks me. I nod and smile. This is like hitting two birds with one stone.

"Yeah, he's actually the person we were going to talk to after visiting you. You said he's in the basement?"

"Yes, he just went down there about twenty minutes ago. You can go speak to him now. And here is the letter for Telma."

He hands me the letter and I put it in my pocket. I thank him one last time before looking at Scarlett to go with me. She hops up from the couch and we head down the stairs to the basement of Renado's home. Sure enough, Shad is observing some of the avian statues that sit in the cave-like room. He hears our footsteps down the stairs and practically drops everything in his hands.

"Link! Scarlett! Fancy meeting you down here!"

"Right? We were coming to check up on our friend and Renado said that you were down here," Scarlett tells him happily. He smiles back and readjusts the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, well...I've just been studying these statues down here. Unfortunately, the writing on them is extremely difficult to decipher. However, I have been able to solve some of it. They originate from the sky beings known as the Oocca."

Oocca? That sounds extremely similar to Ooccoo. And she does have wings...I swear if she's an almighty sky being I'm gonna freaking lose it. Scarlett didn't seem to catch on to the name like I did so that's a relief.

"...I was able to decipher this much. One statue says, 'awaken us with the word that breaks the seal'. Pretty neat, huh? I'm going to try to decipher all of the statues in here," Shad finishes. Scarlett looks out at all the other statues and places her hand on one of them.

"That's really cool, Shad. Maybe we can help. We just got back from the Temple of Time."

"Oh, that's cool. How was-...Wait, what!? The Temple of Time!? You're joking! You have to be joking!" Shad screams at Scarlett and me. We grin at each other and both nod.

"Yep, and it was awesome," I say. Shad's eyes are sparkling in interest.

"I bet! So, that was the ancient temple that Rusl was trying to discover!? Amazing! You'll have to tell me everything you saw sometime! For now, I must focus on these statues! I feel like I am getting so close to cracking the entire language of the Oocca. If I was able to decipher one statue, then what is stopping me from deciphering all of them? So until then, what are you guys going to do? I do believe my place of interest is the last place that you haven't explored out of all the places The Resistance has been studying."

"That's right. We were just going to go to Castle Town and deliver this letter to Telma," I inform him. He nods and smiles.

"I see. Well, come back here after you get it to her. I believe I will be able to figure out what all these statues mean by that time," he replies back to me. I certainly hope he's right. We can't afford to lose any time in our journey.

Knowing all that, Scarlett and I decide to go before we waste any more of Shad's time. He gives us a wave and then looks back at one of the statues intently. Walking up the stairs, I ask Scarlett if she's up for going to Castle Town and then back here tonight. She, of course, says that it's no problem.

"Hell yeah, I'm ready to go!" She cheers. I chuckle and shrug my shoulders contently. If she's ready to go, I'm ready to go. So we go! Midna turns us back into wolves and we run there together. Just like we did with Kakariko Village coming from the Sacred Grove. Epona was in the village when we left but she was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her. She deserves a good night's sleep.

"Here we are…" Scarlett murmurs as we make it to Telma's Bar. The inappropriate sign is still there in all its dirty language glory. Telma really hates paying taxes! Then again, I think everyone hates taxes. Okay, we're going inside now!

We walk inside the bar and Telma is there with her cat. She actually seems kind of bored. The bar is decently busy so I'm not sure why she looks like that. We walk up to her and she brightens up quickly.

"Link! Scarlett! It's so nice to see, you two!"

"You too! We just came by to give you a letter from Renado," I say, handing it to her. She takes the letter and skims over it before humming.

"Yep, you should go see that doctor that looked at her first. He probably has what she needs. His clinic is near the East Gate so you should head over there," she tells us, "but before that, why don't you two have a drink! Would love to see you two drunk!"

Sigh...I really hope she's joking.

"Uhh...Maybe another time, Telma. We have to get going," I tell her nervously. She laughs and shrugs her shoulder.

"Alright, I'll be waiting until then."

Scarlett and I exit the bar and she looks at me while shaking her head.

"Now she's trying to get inside both of our pants!" she screams. I burst out laughing and slap my hand against my face.

"Ugh, never say that again."

"I will always enjoy teasing you about Telma. Or just teasing you in general because you get so cute when you're embarrassed," she says, giving me a gentle kiss. I smile and kiss her back while Midna just stares at us in the background. She needs a twilight imp boyfriend or something. That shall be our next mission after you know...defeating Zant, Ganondorf, and saving all of Hyrule.

" _Okay guys, let's get going. You can make out later,"_ Midna mutters with a smirk. What is with that smirk? Does she like watching us? That's...a little creepy.

"Okay, let's go. Sorry Midna," Scarlett laughs. Midna gives her a grin and then goes into her shadow. Scarlett then grabs my hand and leads me through Castle Town to the East Gate.

"I always love walking around Castle Town at night. It's so lively. And it doesn't feel like anybody will hurt you or anything. Not like that's a huge problem here or anything. That's more of a Hyrule Field thing…"

"You and I know that all too well," I reply.

"I know. But once we finish with all this we won't have to worry about that anymore," she says, looking up at the street lamps. I squeeze her hand and do the same.

"I can't wait...What do you think we will do once that happens?" I ask, almost quietly. She looks at me and begins to smile big at me. Her cheeks have a light blush on them and it literally takes my breath away seeing her like this.

"I guess we'll find out when that time comes. I want it to become a surprise," she says. I breathe in and smile too.

"Me too."

We reach the front of the Doctor's clinic and I can see his elderly shadow working in there. Scarlett stops right before the front door and crosses her arm.

"Is it okay if I stay out here? This doctor is kind of grumpy and mean. Like...to everybody," she laughs. I nod and cross my arms too.

"He's been mean to you?"

"No! I've never gone to him. He just has a reputation. And…-"

"Say no more," I tell her, "I've got this," I finish before puffing my chest out and entering the clinic.

* * *

 **(Scarlett's POV)**

Link puffs his chest out and enters the clinic all macho-like. I laugh under my breath and take a seat outside. Midna comes out of my shadow and sits next to me.

" _Are you okay?"_

"Yeah! I just wanted to sit out here and enjoy the town for a couple minutes. It seemed like a way better option than dealing with an old medical fart. Plus, I have Link to do that for me," I say, grinning. Midna snorts and begins messing with her glowy, orange hair.

" _Yeah, I saw how he entered the clinic. He's so full of himself."_

"I thought it was cute and manly. You're full of yourself."

" _Hey!"_

"Kidding!" I yell, "you're freaking awesome, Midna. You always will be."

" _Thanks...You are too. And Link. You two may be total goofballs, but I love you guys. You know...I never thought any of these things would've happened when I saw Wolf Link in that Hyrule prison cell. I thought, 'maybe this guy can be my slave and do whatever I tell him to do'. But after all that's happened, I'm so glad that I met you and warmed up to Link. I feel better when I'm not being rude or mean to you and him. And I think Link likes me too,"_ she says with relief.

"Of course he does. How could he not?" I ask her with a smile and a nudge of my arm. She smiles gently at the ground until Link comes barreling out of the doctor's medical clinic. Midna and I stand up.

"Did you get the medicine or whatever?" I ask him. He turns and points at a small statue on the other side of the front door, away from where we were sitting.

"I went in there and asked him about the medicine and then he became all pissy and told me that Ilia had been holding that statue when he went to see her. Apparently, he spilled some of the medicine we need on it so he put it out here to dry. He said that he wouldn't have the medicine for a long time but maybe the medicine on the statue might help her. It's worth a shot," he says, picking up the statue and dropping it in his tiny bag.

"I guess so," I reply.

"So, what did you and Midna talk about while I was in there?" He asks me and the twilight imp beside me.

"Oh, nothing," I say. I look towards Midna and she gives me a wink before going into my shadow. "...shall we go back to Kakariko Village?"

I sashay through the street towards the exit, leaving Link mildly confused and curious. He jogs after me and meets my hand with his. He really likes holding hands! But I do too…His hand is warm and is sturdier than mine. And yet, mine fits perfectly with his. It's such a relaxing feeling. So relaxing that the trip back to Kakariko Village doesn't feel as long as it usually does. By this time, it is the dead of night and most people in the village are probably asleep by now. Link and I slip into Renado's hut and see that Ilia is the only one awake. She's sitting at a table next to the fireplace with an expressionless look on her face.

"Ilia?" We both say at the same time. She snaps out of her trance and looks at us in surprise.

"Oh! You startled me for a second there. I had no idea you two were coming. Are you staying here for the night?"

"Yes...Why are you up so late?" I ask her, going over to sit next to her.

"I was just thinking I guess…"

"Well...I'm going to need you to think really hard right now, Ilia. Does this statue make you think of anything? Like, does anything come to mind? Here," Link says to her, taking the statue out of his bag and handing it to her. She takes the statue from him and I guess...the medicine's scent helps her remember something? I'm not really sure. But she immediately stands up from the table and her eyes go wide. She then takes one hand off the statue and brings it to her temple.

"O-Ow…"

"Are you okay? Do you remember anything?" I ask her, standing up as well. She nods and groans again from the pain in her head.

"Ugh...Yes. I remember...being confined with someone. A woman I think...And she saved me from the bulblins and then gave me that statue...I think…" she tells us. It's obvious she's very unsure about what she's saying. She then mentions that everything is flashing inside her mind but not staying there like a normal memory. I glance at Link and he frowns at me. Hopefully, we haven't met another dead end…

"I recognize the design on the statue," someone says behind us. We turn and see Shad coming up the stairs from the basement.

"Shad? Have you been down there studying those statues the whole time?" I question. He smiles sheepishly and nods.

"What can I say? They're fascinating. As for this little wooden statue," he stops and walks over to us, "I'm pretty sure it belongs to the Sheikah tribe. I've read that they're not around anymore but their village still is. It's hidden on the far side of the Bridge of Eldin. I tried to go there once but there was a wall of boulders that stopped me from entering. I couldn't do anything about it but maybe you two can. You always seem to make things happen your way," he says with a laugh. Link and I smile at each other.

"I bet we can think of something. Thank you, Shad. We'll try to go there tomorrow and see if we can find anything there that will help with Ilia's memory," we tell him.

"Well, good luck. I will be here when you return. I've almost cracked the code to those sky statues down there. It's...taken longer than I anticipated. But no matter. Tomorrow is a new day. Good night, you three."

He walks down the hall with a wave to us and retreats to his bedroom. Speaking of bedroom, where are Link and I going to sleep? I don't think we've ever stayed here overnight before.

"Please find something. My head is always hurting," Ilia says with a whine. Link and I nod before I chuckle a bit.

"We will. By the way, would Renado happen to have an extra bedroom Link and I could stay in for the night?"

She nods.

"Uh-huh. There are two empty bedrooms down the hall across from where Shad's bedroom is. You can stay in those rooms."

Link and I look at each other before laughing.

"Thanks, but we'll only need one room."

Ilia stares at the two of us before it finally connects.

"Oh...Oh! Okay...Then yeah, the room all the way down on the left should be fine. I should be heading to bed too. It's been a long day…" she mutters. She walks slowly to her room on the other side of the home and tells us goodnight one more time before closing the door. I sigh and began walking to our bedroom. It has been a long day, hasn't it? Link follows me and starts taking off his equipment on the way.

"I swear. Today has been so tiring. I'm still itching from seeing that huge spider earlier."

I cringe suddenly from the thought of the giant tarantula and Link laughs.

"Yeah, but you kicked that spider's ass! I was so proud of you!"

I smile and look down.

"Yeah well...I couldn't have done it without you."

Once his gloves and gauntlets are off, he comes to sit next to me. He rests his hand on mine and looks into my eyes.

"The same goes with you for me."

He pecks me on the lips and then lays back onto the bed with a groan, his legs dangling off the end of the bed.

"Oh my gods, that back feeling, when you lay on the bed at the end of the day for the first time, is the best."

"I know," I giggle, laying back with him. We stay like that for a moment before I sit up.

"If we stay like this we'll fall asleep. Better take off our armor before we do," I tell him. He nods and takes off his tunic. He then takes off the white shirt he wears underneath it and then puts the tunic back on.

"It's kind of like pajamas! Just...Take away the chainmail…"

"Ha. Whatever works I guess," I reply. I take out a shirt that I had packed from my room and put it on. It's really comfortable and it's one of my favorites. After taking everything off, brushing my teeth, all that crap, I get under the covers of the bed and wait for Link to get finished getting ready for bed. He has more layers of clothing and equipment on than I do so it takes him a little longer.

"Finally…" he whispers once he's done and getting in the bed with me. I smile and lay my head on the soft feather pillow.

"This is the best part of the day…"

"Yeah," he says with a grin, moving closer to me and wrapping his arms around me. He then turns off the lamp on the nightstand next to me and settles back in with me. I don't know what it is about Link, but whenever I cuddle up to him like this I fall asleep almost instantly.

"Goodnight, Link. I love you…"

"I love you too, Scarlett. Goodnight…" He says back to me before kissing my forehead gently and closing his eyes. I smile and close mine too, quickly falling asleep in his arms.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day for sure. But I'm excited about it. Unless it involves another huge spider...

* * *

 **And that is the end of the chapter! Okay, we might have more chapters than I thought. I totally forgot about Ilia and the hidden village and all that crap. So we still have a ways to go before the story is finished. That's fine. I like writing it. Although, I did have trouble writing this chapter just because I had a lot of college stuff to do. Please review or comment on the story and tell me what you guys think! Maybe more reviews will get a faster update. I don't know. I'll try. Finally, thanks so much for reading and I will see you guys next time!**


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